The statutory cap on recouping attorneys'fees is set at $125 an hour, but courts routinely find that"environmental law is a recognized specialty for which enhanced rates are appropriate"under the federal
Equal Access to Justice Act. How appropriate?
The Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) provides a mechanism through which small businesses or individuals may be able to recover attorneys fees and costs incurred in litigation against the U.S.
In Equal Access to Justice Act Application of Steele Contractors, Inc., for example, the Engineering Board found that the agency's conduct was substantially justified because the agency provided the board with detailed facts surrounding its treatment of the underlying dispute and appeal.
(13.) Application Under the Equal Access to Justice Act of A.A.
A sampling of these legal triumphs include: the Prompt Pay Act of 1982, the Small Business Innovation and Research Pro ram Reauthorization Act, the
Equal Access to Justice Act and the Minority Business Opportunity Reform Act.
In 1980, Congress passed the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA),(1) which allows courts and agencies to award costs and fees, including attorney's fees, to parties who prevail in litigation against the federal government.(2) In the absence of another statute specifically providing for a fee award, the EAJA mandates such an award unless the court finds that the government's position was substantially justified or that special circumstances make such an award unjust.(3) Prior to the enactment of the EAJA, the federal government was immune from statutory and common law fee-shifting provisions under the doctrine of sovereign immunity.(4) The EAJA thereby puts the government on equal footing with nongovernment litigants potentially subject to fee-shifting.
Westfall, Note, The Equal Access to Justice Act: How to Recover Attorneys' Fees & Litigation Expenses from the United States Government, 13 U.
The
Equal Access to Justice Act allows "less wealthy" groups or individuals to enter into a lawsuit with the federal government and the government will pay that group's legal costs.
Fortunately, an operator can invoke three non-traditional statutory and constitutional rights of action to ad dress abuse of MSHA authority under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), the Federal Tort Claims Act (FCTA), and "pattern and practice suits" under the U.S.
Inside the Routine Contest System --The Equal Access to Justice Act The EAJA permits small businesses to recover attorneys' fees and expenses (including expert fees) from MSHA when the agency improperly brings an enforcement action, a business prevails, and MSHA's position was not "substantially justified" in law or fact.
This law amended another statute, the
Equal Access to Justice Act, commonly called the EAJA, by adding language specifically making EAJA applicable to cases before the US Court of Veterans' Appeals (COVA).