United States Ninth Circuit

The award of enhanced attorney's fees from an environmental case against the Navy is vacated and remanded for recalculation where: 1) co-counsel senior law firm partners and junior NRDC counsel did possess specialized experience needed in the litigation; but 2) co-counsel junior law firm associates did not qualify for enhanced fees due to lack of specialized experience; and 3) plaintiff had not shown that appropriate counsel could not be found at the statutory rate.

Appellate Information

• Argued 06/06/2008
• Decided 09/16/2008
• Published 09/16/2008

Judges

• MILAN D. SMITH, JR., Circuit Judge:, Before: WILLIAM C. CANBY, JR., JAY S. BYBEE, and MILAN D. SMITH, JR., Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Kathryn E. Kovacs, United States Department of Justice, Environment & Natural Resources Division, Washington, D.C., for the defendants-appellants., Richard B. Kendall, Irell & Manella LLP, Los Angeles, CA;  Joel R. Reynolds, Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., Santa Monica, CA, for the plaintiffs-appellees.