Fox v. Vice

Docket No.	Op. Below	Argument	Opinion	Vote	Author	Term
10-114	5th Cir.	Mar 22, 2011 Tr.Aud.	Jun 6, 2011	9-0	Kagan	OT 2010

Holding: When there are both frivolous and non-frivolous claims in a plaintiff's civil rights suit, a court may grant reasonable attorney's fees to the defendant, but only for costs that the defendant would not have incurred but for the frivolous claims.

Plain English Holding: Courts may award attorney's fees to defendants to reimburse them for the costs of defending against the legally worthless portions of a civil rights suit, but not for the non-worthless parts of the lawsuit.

Judgment: Vacated and remanded on June 6, 2011.

SCOTUSblog Coverage

Opinion analysis: Attorneyâ€™s fees for frivolous claims (Amy Howe)
Argument recap: Choosing between â€œbut forâ€ and â€œfairly attributableâ€ (Amy Howe)
Argument preview: Attorneysâ€™ fees for prevailing defendants (Amy Howe)
Attorneys' fee case goes on (Lyle Denniston)
Both sides want fee case to go on (Lyle Denniston)
Call for new briefs in 10-114 (Lyle Denniston)
Petition of the day (Anna Christensen)

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Editor's Note :

Fox v. Vice

SCOTUSblog Coverage

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Certiorari-stage documents

Featured Posts

Challengers urge justices to dismiss census case after district court ruling (Updated) – Amy Howe

Reargument analysis: Justices seek a “middle position” in takings litigation case – Miriam Seifter

Argument analysis: Justices have strong views about removal of class actions – Ronald Mann

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