Attorney Fees

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Civil

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Officials: POSNER, EASTERBROOK, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

Attorney Fees

No. 15-1313 Katherine Cerajeski v. Greg Zoeller

Where district judges decision to deny plaintiff-appellant claim for attorney fees reversed and remanded due to clear mandates by 42 U.S.C. §1983 and 42 U.S.C. §1988(b).

“The district judge had her own alternative ground, similar to the defendants’, for denying the plaintiff attorneys’ fees: that the claim of an unconstitutional taking, the claim we upheld in rendering judgment in the plaintiff’s favor, was brought directly under the Constitution and not under 42 U.S.C. § 1983—and 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b), the attorneys’ fees statute on which the plaintiff bases her claim for fees, applies by its terms only to claims brought under section 1983 (and certain other statutes not relevant to this case). But section 1983 imposes liability on anyone “who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws,” and one of those rights is the right to just compensation for the taking of private property. Although 42 U.S.C. § 1983 isn’t explicitly mentioned in Count III of the complaint, which is captioned “CLAIM FOR PROSPECTIVE RELIEF (FIFTH AMENDMENT TAKINGS CLAUSE),” paragraphs 1 and 11 of the complaint invoke section 1983 and are expressly incorporated in Count III; and paragraph B, on the last page of the complaint, also bases the takings claim on that statute”

Reversed and Remanded

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing attorney at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.