Pennies From Heaven: An Expanded Theory Of Entitlement For State Court Claimants Under The Civil Rights Fee-Shifting Statutes

Authors

Barbara Stark, Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Santa Clara Law Review

Publication Date

1990

Abstract

There have been several important fee award decisions' since the enactment of the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976 (the "Fees Act"' ) in which the Court considers questions central to the scope and purpose of the fee-shifting statutes. The impact of these decisions on state court awards is an open question. This article attempts to clarify the role of attorneys' fee awards by state courts in the changing federal scheme. Moreover, it suggests an approach for determining whether such fees should be awarded which better comports with the Supreme Court's latest decisions, as well as to the mandate of the Civil Rights Acts, than the tests currently applied.

Recommended Citation

Barbara Stark, Pennies From Heaven: An Expanded Theory Of Entitlement For State Court Claimants Under The Civil Rights Fee-Shifting Statutes, 30 Santa Clara L. Rev. 505 (1990)
Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/faculty_scholarship/379