United States Ninth Circuit

In a suit brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by an individual with a physical disability against a beer and wine bar and its owners alleging that they failed to remove architectural barriers at a place of public accommodation, denial of plaintiff's request for attorney's fees after the parties settled is reversed and remanded where: 1) a district court may not use a lack of prelitigation notice as a factor in determining whether to deny as unjust a request for attorney fees under the ADA, and the district court here erred in doing so; but 2) a finding that plaintiff's conduct after the lawsuit was filed unreasonably protracted the litigation could be the basis for reducing the fee award, but not eliminating it.

Appellate Information

• Argued 02/07/2008
• Decided 08/12/2008
• Published 08/12/2008

Judges

• GRABER, Circuit Judge:, Before:  SUSAN P. GRABER and MARSHA S. BERZON, Circuit Judges, and CLAUDIA WILKEN, District Judge.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Thomas E. Frankovich and Julia M. Adams, Thomas E. Frankovich, PLC, San Francisco, CA, for the plaintiff-appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• E. Thomas Moroney, Redondo Beach, CA, for the defendants-appellees.