About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

GAO-12-417R 1 (2012-04-12)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacfyh0001 and id is 1 raw text is: bAccountaybiii * Integrity * Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 April 12, 2012 Congressional Requesters Subject: Limited Data Available on USDA and Interior Attorney Fee Claims and Payments In the United States, parties involved in federal litigation generally pay their own attorney fees. There are many exceptions to this general rule where statutes authorize the award of attorney fees to a successful, or prevailing, party. Some of these provisions also apply to the federal government when it loses a case. In 1980, Congress passed the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA)1 to allow parties that prevail in cases against federal agencies to seek reimbursement from the federal government for attorney fees, where doing so was not previously authorized. The premise of EAJA was to help ensure that decisions to contest administrative actions are based on the merits and not the cost of litigation, thereby encouraging agencies to base such actions on informed deliberation. Although all federal agencies are generally subject to, and make payments under, attorney fee provisions, some in Congress have expressed concerns about the use of taxpayer funds to make attorney fee payments with agencies' limited funding, such as concerns that environmental organizations are using taxpayer dollars to fund lawsuits against the government, particularly against the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of the Interior (Interior), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).2 In the context of judicial cases-those brought in a court, including those that are settled- the law generally provides for three ways that prevailing parties can be eligible for the payment of attorney fees by the federal government.3 First, many statutes contain provisions authorizing award of attorney fees from a losing party to a prevailing party. Many of these apply to the federal government;4 for example, most claims under the Endangered Species Act and those under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 apply to the federal government independent of EAJA. Second, where there is a fee-shifting statute that allows for the payment of attorney fees by a losing party to a prevailing party but is not independently applicable to the federal government, EAJA provides that the government is liable for reasonable attorney fees to the same extent as a private party (i.e., claims paid under EAJA 1 Pub. L. No. 96-481, tit. II, 94 Stat. 2321, 2325 (1980) (codified as amended at 5 U.S.C. § 504; 28 U.S.C. 2412). See for example, GAO, Private Attorneys: Selected Attorneys' Fee Awards Against Nine Federal Agencies in 1993 and 1994, GAOiGGD-96-18 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 31, 1995), and Equal Access to Justice Act. Its Use in Selected Agencies, GAO/HEHS-98-58R (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 14, 1998). 3 Under 28 U.S.C. § 2414, except as otherwise provided by law, compromise settlements of claims referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for defense of imminent litigation or suits against the United States or its agencies, shall be settled and paid in a manner similar to judgments. Thus, when DOJ settles cases on behalf of a federal agency, out-of-court and court-approved settlements may provide for payment of attorney fees and costs, depending on the underlying claims. 4 Some such provisions, however, cannot be used independently of EAJA to award fees against the federal government because the particular provisions do not effect a waiver of the federal government's sovereign immunity. GAO-12-417R USDA and Interior Attorney Fees Page 1

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most