In an April 21, 2011 article published by PublicCEO.com, we explained the state of the law at that time regarding a public entity's right to recover attorney's fees when it prevails in federal civil rights litigation.

Under the federal statute, a public entity is entitled to recover its fees incurred in defending against non-frivolous claims, but it may not recover its fees relating to defending against non-frivolous claims. The problem we addressed arises in situations where the prevailing public entity defendent seeks to recover its attorney's fees incurred in defending against both frivolous and non-frivolous claims. Such fees have been labeled "general" fees by the courts, and they are very common because legal work is seldom neatly divided between defending against the various claims alleged in a single lawsuit.

Please see full article below for more information.