Desegregation Foot-Draggers May Be Socked with Retroactive Counsel Fees Upon Losing School Cases
Press Release
June 11, 1973

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Press Releases, Volume 6. Desegregation Foot-Draggers May Be Socked with Retroactive Counsel Fees Upon Losing School Cases, 1973. d18768d7-ba92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/7a01b327-c1f8-4e75-ba5b-294b76109448/desegregation-foot-draggers-may-be-socked-with-retroactive-counsel-fees-upon-losing-school-cases. Accessed July 10, 2025.
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PS i i) lA, | oo FYCSS NEICASE | £ at >| Ss sani FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 11, 1973 High Bench Promises To Rule DESEGREGATION FOOT-DRAGGERS MAY BE SOCKED WITH RETROACTIVE COUNSEL FEES UPON LOSING SCHOOL CASES The Supreme Court agreed this morning to decide whether civil rights attorneys who win school desegregation cases are entitled to be paid eonnissi rade by their opponents in cases arising prior to the passage of the 1972 Emergency School Aid Act. The case, which involves $56,000 in counsel fees and court costs claimed by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, is a stepchild cf two of the Court's most important cases this term. Bradley v. Richmond School Board, on which the Court granted certiorari this morning, is the namesake of the 4-4 decision rendered by the Court on May 21, 1973. In Richmond I, the Court decided that desegregation of the Richmond schools along metropolitan lines was improper. Because of that ruling, the Fund is seeking counsel fees for enly that portion of the case which down through the years it has consistently won: the desegregation of the Richmond city schools themselves. The case builds also on Northcross v. Memphis Board of Education, decided one week ago today by the Supreme Court (See LDF press release of 6/4/73: "Sock Desegregation Foot- Draggers for Counsel Fees..." SS ieee counsel fees to winners of school desegregation suits after - more - NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. | 10 Columbus Circle | New York, N.Y. 10019 | (212) 586-8397 Jr, > President Jack Greenberg - D ~<a July 1, 1972, the effective date of the Emergency School Aid Act. Bradley v. Richmond School Board, an attempt to de- segregate the public schools of Richmond, was commenced in 1961. The Legal Defense Fund argues that counsel fees should be made available for some or all of the actions in the case prior to July l, 1972. "Until very recently the law of counsel fees has been negative," Jack Greenberg, Director-Counsel of the LDF, said this morning. "As a matter of ‘federal common law,' counsel fees have generally been awarded only when the school board has acted outrageously. "Since courts have been reluctant to characterize even the most obstructive or obstreperous. behavior as ‘'outrageous,' the cases almost never resulted in awards of counsel fees." A change in court attitudes began with the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968, Titles II, VII and VIII of which have allowed for counsel fees in public accommo- dations and fair employment cases. The rationale has been simple. Private citizens bring- ing suit to compel public agencies and others to obey the law are acting in a public capacity and should be so reimbursed. Their role has been characterized as that of "private attor- neys-general." "We believe the behavior of the Richmond School Board in this case has been clearly '‘outrageous,'" Greenberg said, noting thattwelve years after commencement of the suit, attorneys for the indigent plaintiffs were still awaiting - more — payment for their efforts to integrate the Richmond city schools. | | "Moreover," he added, "we don't believe those who are | trying to assert their rights under law should be forced to pay to make others obey it." Approximately $200,000 of the LDF's income in 1971 and $125,000 in 1972 derived from court-awarded costs and attorneys' fees,according to LDF Controller Glavencel Toanes. The Fund also obtains income in counsel fees as part of Aree e tlements that do not reach the final stages of litigation. LDF litigation expenses run to $3,500,000 annually. : A major award such as the $56,000 sought here has a whipsaw effect on LDF attempts to raise funds, Greenberg said, noting that similar problems faced other public interest groups that are funded mainly by private contri- butions. Although the income is helpful, he said, it has a potentially adverse effect on contributions, Regular con- tributors reading of large awards sometimes assume that the Fund does not need their aid. “Our big recoveries are elie episodic," he added. A six-figure award such as that Gpteined by LDF two years ago against a major tobacco company as part of a back-pay decree for black employees victimized by discrimination helps en- courage long-term aiaeriqinatens to settle rather than fight. The LDF split that $200,000 fee with the North Carolina firm of Julius Chambers, local "cooperating attorneys" who had devoted an equal amount of time to the litigation. = more - "Our contributors know that our need for money is continuous if our work is to go forward," Greenberg Bait. - 30 - For further information contact: Frederick Koyle Acting Director Office of Public Informatidgn NAACP Legal Defense Fund 10 Columbus Circle New York, N.Y. 10019 [212] 586-8397 x 303 \