Reversing a Fee Award

Excerpt from Law Office of Matthew Stoloff: (click for entire article)

This is the third article about attorney’s fees and costs in special education matters. In the first article, I explained that a parent who prevails at a special education due process hearing may be entitled to reimbursement for attorney’s fees and costs. In the second article, I explained that a parent who litigates a frivolous lawsuit may be ordered to reimburse the school district for their attorney’s fees and costs.

There is one additional piece of information about attorney’s fees that parents should be aware of: even if a federal court orders that the parent reimburse attorney’s fees and costs to the school district, the fee award may be overturned on appeal.

As a general rule, in order to overturn the fee award, the parents must persuade the appellate court that the school district was not a “prevailing party.”