9th Cir. Reverses Judge's $25K Attorney's Fee Sanctions in Winning Discrimination Case
A federal appeals court has reversed $25,000 in attorney’s fee sanctions imposed by a judge on a practitioner who won discrimination cases against FedEx, saying that the lawyer should have been given a chance to defend himself and correct errors.
In an unpublished opinion (PDF), the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also said U.S. District Judge Susan Illston was correct to refuse Waukeen McCoy’s $2 million attorney’s fee petition. But the judge may wish to consider before making a final decision on McCoy’s attorney’s fees the effect that denying him reimbursement could have on his clients, reports the Recorder.
McCoy says he has a 40 percent contingency fee agreement that will be paid out of the verdict amount if the prevailing plaintiff isn’t awarded attorney’s fees. He contends that the judge has a “personal vendetta,” the Recorder says.
Illston denied McCoy’s earlier attorney’s fee petition after finding that he didn’t have contemporaneous time records to support his claim for payment.
