This essay describes how to evaluate a potential civil rights case to maximize your client's chance of collecting attorney's fees purusant to 42 USC 1983 and 1988 and related provisions of the federal civil rights law. The article analyzes what it means for a plaintiff to "prevail", required billing and time record keeping and calculating the lodestar amount or the presumptively reasonable fee. Enhancements and multipliers are also discussed. The case law is culled from a winning brief in a successful attorney's fee application in a civil rights case.