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Supremes Allow Paralegal Fees Recovery At Market Rates

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 06.03.08

Reversing contrary Board and Federal Circuit rulings, the Supreme Court in Richlin Sec. Serv. Co. v. Chertoff (June 2, 2008, http://www.supreme courtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/06-1717.pdf) unanimously ruled that the Equal Access to Justice Act allows a client to recover market rate paralegal fees charged to the client, not just the cost of the paralegal to the attorney retained by the client. The Supreme Court ruled that paralegal fees are implied in the term "attorneys fees" in the statute and are subject to the same per-hour limitations.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25

A Sign of What’s to Come? Court Dismisses FCA Retaliation Complaint Based on Alleged Discriminatory Use of Federal Funding

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....

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