Federal Circuit Opens Split Over Paralegal Reimbursement Under EAJA
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 01.12.07
In a 2-1 decision which rejected a decision of another circuit, Judges Dyk and Rader in Richlin Security Serv. Co. v. Chertoff (Fed. Cir. Dec. 26, 2006) held that, under the Equal Access to Justice Act, prevailing parties can only recover the actual cost to the parties' law firms of paralegal services, not the market rates billed by the firms. Judge Plager in dissent found an analogous Supreme Court precedent convincing and argued that a prior Federal Circuit decision had already held to the contrary, requiring en banc reconsideration.
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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25
On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
