United States Seventh Circuit

Motion for an award of attorney's fees and costs after a successful petition for review of a denial of immigration relief is granted where the government's position on appeal was not substantially justified because it relied on a record developed by a biased decisionmaker. The award is modified to reflect the statutory maximum rate for a fee award where the attorney's blanket statement of the difficulty of the issues presented and the years of experience of the practitioner involved were insufficient to justify piercing the statutory ceiling.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/22/2007
• Published 08/22/2007

Judges

• Before RIPPLE, ROVNER and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Seventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• David Trais (argued), Richard H. Trais, Chicago, IL, for Petitioners.


• For Appellees:
  
• Doris Clark (argued), Office of the United States Attorney, Indianapolis, IN, Karen Lundgren, Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Chief Counsel, Chicago, IL, Hillel R. Smith, Department of Justice, Civil Division, Immigration Litigation, Washington, DC, for Respondent.