Appellate Decision in Civil Rights Action

On June 14 2011, a three judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower trial court decision awarding Brenda Bosley her attorney's fees and costs in her civil rights case against the Deputy Paul Sabin of the Mineral County Sheriff's Office and the Mineral County Commission.  The defendants had filed a Federal Rule 68 offer of judgment which failed to address the issue of attorney's fees or costs. Plaintiff Bosley accepted the offer of judgment and filed a motion seeking the award of her attorney's fees and costs in federal district court.  The district court granted her motion and awarded approximately $70,000 in fees and costs.  The defendants appealed the order to the Fourth Circuit contending that their offer of judgment was intended to include attorney's fees and costs as it stated that it was in full in complete satisfaction of Bosley's claim against the defendant's.  The appeals court rejected the argument of the defendants and found that the plaintiff was entitled to a separate award of attorney's fees and costs in addition to the judgment amount offered by the defendants.  A copy of the Court's opinion can be found in the library section of the website.