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Decisions of Interest

By ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |
April 06, 2004

Costs and Attorneys' Fees Under Rule 68 Offer of Judgment

An employee who accepted the employer's Rule 68 offer of judgment that included all “costs” available under local, state or federal statutes, was precluded from recovering attorneys' fees under the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL). Wilson v. Nomura Securities Int'l, 2004 WL 377316 (2d Cir. 3/2/04) (Newman, Winter, and B.D. Parker, Circuit Judges) NYCHRL 8-502(f) provides that “the court … may award the prevailing party costs and reasonable attorney's fees.” The employee argued that the term “costs” is distinct from “attorney's fees” under the NYCHRL. The district court agreed, and awarded the employee attorneys' fees pursuant to the NYCHRL.

The Second Circuit reversed, holding that when a plaintiff prevails on two overlapping claims, he or she is entitled to only one award of fees for the indivisible legal work preformed. In the present case, the federal and city claims were grounded on the same core set of facts and related legal theories, which limited the recovery to a single award of attorneys' fees as provided in the Rule 68 order of judgment.

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