United States Ninth Circuit

In an attorneys' fee action in an underlying government asset seizure case, the district court's order awarding attorneys' fees pursuant to the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA), directly to the claimants' counsel because the Anti-Assignment Act (Act) applied to void an assignment in the parties' representation agreement, is vacated where: 1) the government was not estopped from asserting the Act; 2) the Act prohibited a claimant from assigning an award of attorneys' fees under CAFRA to his attorney; and 3) the Act does not prevent an attorney from taking an interest in the fees that is effective against the government, it merely forbids an assignment of the right to be paid directly from the United States Treasury.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/13/2015
• Published 08/13/2015

Judges

• Smith

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel