The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals published its opinion in Zinna v. Congrove on Tuesday, June 5, 2012.
The Tenth Circuit reversed the district court’s decision. Petitioner “appeals the district court’s attorneys’ fee award following a successful 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights suit against [Respondent], a county official. On its consideration of the jury verdict favoring [Petitioner], the district court determined the damage award was nominal and the victory merely technical. It proceeded to award [Petitioner] but $8,000 in attorneys’ fees under § 1988— $1,000 for each day of an eight-day trial. In light of [Tenth Circuit] jurisprudence applying Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 116-22 (1992) (O’Connor, J., concurring), [the Court concluded] that that the district court’s award was arbitrary, and therefore reversed and remanded to determine what work warrants reimbursement.
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