Rena C. v. Colonial School Dist. — civil / disability — reversal — Fisher

(I’m posting this later than usual because I had a moot today for my upcoming Third Circuit argument.)

The Third Circuit today ruled in favor of a plaintiff who prevailed in a suit under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in a dispute over attorney’s fees. The opinion’s introduction explains the context:

Under the IDEA, when parents and school districts dispute a child’s educational placement, a parent may file an administrative due process complaint that can lead to an administrative hearing. At least ten days before the dispute reaches a hearing, the school district can extend a settlement offer to the parent, referred to herein as a “ten-day offer.” If the matter proceeds to a hearing and the parent is the prevailing party, this ten-day offer becomes significant. A parent who is the prevailing party may be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees under the IDEA, but the ten-day offer allows a school district to limit its exposure to such fees by limiting a parent’s eligibility for attorney’s fees to only those fees accrued before the time of the ten-day offer. If a parent rejects the ten-day offer, the parent may only receive attorney’s fees for work done after the time of the offer if (1) the hearing leads to more favorable relief than the offer included, or (2) the parent was substantially justified in rejecting the offer.

Joining Fisher were Nygaard and Greenaway; Greenaway also concurred to express his hope that IDEA litigants will negotiate in good faith instead of simply rejecting “terse or inexact offers.” Arguing counsel were David Berney for the trial plaintiff and Karl Romberger of Sweet Stevens for the school district.