FOIA Advisor

Court opinions issued Mar. 21, 2016

Court Opinions (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

Poulsen v. Dep't of Homeland Sec. (D.D.C.) -- awarding plaintiff $22,588.50 in fees and $350 in costs for prevailing in lawsuit that sought access to Secret Service records about Aaron Swartz, an Internet activist who committed suicide after being prosecuted by federal government; reducing requested amount by approximately 40 percent primarily because plaintiff relied upon incorrect matrix to calculate hourly rates.

A Better Way for BPA  v. U.S. Dep't of Energy Bonneville Power Admin. (W.D. Wa.) -- dismissing suit because the initial request was submitted by an individual who did not clearly state that she was acting on behalf of the requester; to the contrary, she indicated that the request was being made by an individual for personal use rather than by a company for use in its business.

Gahagan v. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Servs. (E.D. La.) -- awarding plaintiff $12,676 for attorney's fees and $462.87 for costs after obtaining ten pages of records that agency claimed -- but did not establish -- were merely duplicates; reducing number of hours calculated by plaintiff by 25 percent due to lack of billing judgment and further reducing his hourly rate from $300 to $200.   

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.