ROBERTS v. NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD (2018)

Before us is the application of James L. Roberts for attorney's fees and expenses he incurred in 2014 and 2015 in connection with his successful petition for judicial review in Roberts v. National Transportation Safety Board, 776 F.3d 918 (D.C. Cir. 2015).¹ Roberts filed his application with this court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2412. Section 2412 requires a party seeking fees and expenses to file an application “within thirty days of final judgment in the action.” Id. § 2412(d)(1)(B). Our decision in Roberts v. National Transportation Safety Board became final on April 23, 2015. The limitations period in § 2412 runs from the time of final judgment in “the court before which the civil action is pending,” not from the final decision of an administrative agency. Melkonyan v. Sullivan, 501 U.S. 89, 94, 111 S.Ct. 2157, 115 L.Ed.2d 78 (1991) (emphasis in original); see also id. at 94–95, 111 S.Ct. 2157. Because Roberts submitted his § 2412 application on May 4, 2018, more than three years after this court's final judgment, his application was untimely. We therefore deny it.

So ordered.

FOOTNOTES

1.   The subject of Roberts’ petition for judicial review was the National Transportation Safety Board's denial of his request, which he filed pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 504, for legal fees and expenses incurred in administrative proceedings. This court ruled in Roberts’ favor and remanded the case to the Board. On April 4, 2018, the Board granted Roberts’ application for fees and expenses.

Per Curiam: