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Reyes v. U.S. Dep't of the Interior, No. 18-00366, 2021 WL 4081560 (S.D. Cal. Sept. 7, 2021) (Houston, J.)

Date

Reyes v. U.S. Dep't of the Interior, No. 18-00366, 2021 WL 4081560 (S.D. Cal. Sept. 7, 2021) (Houston, J.)

Re:  Requests for records concerning third parties and certain groups of people

Disposition:  Denying plaintiff's motion for fees and costs

  • Attorney Fees:  The court finds that "[a]s noted by Defendants, 'a pro se litigant may not recover attorney's fees under the FOIA.'"  "Plaintiff is not entitled to recover fees he incurred representing himself in this action."  "Plaintiff's list of fees includes multiple entries for legal consultations."  "However, no attorney made an appearance in this action."  "Even assuming these are attorney fees recoverable under the statute, there is insufficient information for the Court to determine if these fees were reasonably incurred."

    Additionally, the court notes that "[w]hile a pro se litigant may not recover fees, a court may, in its discretion, award a prevailing pro se plaintiff reasonably incurred costs."  "Defendants demonstrate they were in the process of individually reviewing the voluminous documents responsive to Plaintiff's requests when he filed the action because many contained private information."  "This Court granted judgment in Defendants' favor in Plaintiff's related cases in which he sought similar information, upon finding the privacy interests of withheld information outweighed the public interest in the information."  "The Court's rulings in the related cases and Defendants' explanation that they were reviewing the documents responsive to Plaintiff's requests when he filed the action do not support Plaintiff's contention that the agency changed its position regarding his FOIA requests just before the Court was going to find in his favor."  "Plaintiff fails to demonstrate he substantially prevailed in this matter."
Court Decision Topic(s)
District Court opinions
Attorney Fees
Updated September 23, 2021