Case Detail

FOIA Project Annotation: In two separate but related cases, federal courts in Washington have ruled that immigration attorney Katherine Honor Rich is not entitled to attorney's fees for her FOIA suits against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Executive Office for Immigration Review filed after the agencies failed to respond to her requests within the statutory time limits. Ruling against Rich in her case against USCIS, the court noted that "Ms. Rich's only argument for eligibility is a temporal one. She contends that she had not received the requested documents before the filing of this suit, and the government subsequently released the records." The court indicated that "without more, Ms. Rich has not shown that she is eligible for attorney's fees." In her suit against EOIR, the court pointed out that the Supreme Court's ruling in Kay v. Ehrler, 499 U.S. 432 (1991), foreclosed giving attorney's fees to pro se attorneys and that Rich had not indicated that she was requesting the records on behalf of a client. The court also indicated that since Rich had not shown that she substantially prevailed, she was not eligible for her costs of filing as well.
Issues: Litigation - Attorney's fees - Prevailing party

Date Filed	Doc #	Docket Text
2020-05-29	1	COMPLAINT against defendant(s) United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (Receipt # AWAWDC-6369273) Attorney Gregory Hortman McLawsen added to party Katherine Honor Rich(pty:pla), filed by Katherine Honor Rich. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons U.S. Attorney General, # 3 Summons USCIS Office of Chief Counsel, # 4 Summons Dept. Homeland Security, # 5 Summons U.S. Atty. Gen. - Seattle Office)(McLawsen, Gregory) (Entered: 05/29/2020)
2020-06-02		Judge James L. Robart added. (RE) (Entered: 06/02/2020)
2020-06-02	2	Summons(es) Electronically Issued as to defendant(s). (Attachments: # 1 Summons-USCIS, # 2 Summons-Dept of Health and Human Services, # 3 Summons-US Attorney Seattle)(RE) (Entered: 06/02/2020)
2020-06-02	3	AFFIDAVIT of Mailing of Summons and Complaint to USCIS Office of Chief Counsel on 6/2/2020, filed by Plaintiff Katherine Honor Rich. (Attachments: # 1 Certificate of Service DHS - OGC, # 2 Certificate of Service US AG - Seattle, # 3 Certificate of Service US AG - D.C.)(McLawsen, Gregory) (Entered: 06/02/2020)
2020-06-30	4	NOTICE of Appearance by attorney Michelle R. Lambert on behalf of Defendant United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. (Lambert, Michelle) (Entered: 06/30/2020)
2020-07-01	5	Stipulated MOTION For Extension of Time and [Proposed] Order , filed by Defendant United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Noting Date 7/1/2020, (Lambert, Michelle) (Entered: 07/01/2020)
2020-07-03	6	ORDER re parties' 5 Stipulated Motion for Extension of Time. Defendant's Response to the Complaint is due 8/5/2020. Signed by Judge James L. Robart. (PM) (Entered: 07/06/2020)
2020-08-04	7	Second Stipulated MOTION For Extension of Time and [Proposed] Order , filed by Defendant United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Noting Date 8/4/2020, (Lambert, Michelle) (Entered: 08/04/2020)
2020-08-05	8	ORDER re parties' 7 Second Stipulated Motion for Extension of Time. Defendant's Response to the Complaint is due 8/19/2020. Signed by Judge James L. Robart. (PM) (Entered: 08/05/2020)
2020-08-14	9	ORDER REGARDING INITIAL DISCLOSURES AND JOINT STATUS REPORT by Judge James L. Robart. Joint Status Report due by 9/18/2020, FRCP 26(f) Conference Deadline is 8/28/2020, Initial Disclosure Deadline is 9/11/2020. (AD) (Entered: 08/14/2020)
2020-08-19	10	ANSWER to 1 Complaint, by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.(Lambert, Michelle) (Entered: 08/19/2020)
2020-09-17	11	Stipulated MOTION Re Briefing Schedule for Plaintiff's Fees and Costs Claim , filed by Defendant United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Noting Date 9/17/2020, (Lambert, Michelle) (Entered: 09/17/2020)
2020-09-18	12	ORDER granting Parties' 11 Stipulated Motion Re Briefing Schedule for Plaintiff's Fees and Costs Claim. Plaintiff's motion is due by October 16, 2020. USCIS's response is due by November 9, 2020. Plaintiff's reply is due by November 13, 2020. Signed by Judge James L. Robart. (LH) (Entered: 09/18/2020)
2020-10-16	13	MOTION for Attorney Fees , filed by Plaintiff Katherine Honor Rich. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Unpublished Gahagan decision, # 2 Proposed Order) Noting Date 11/13/2020, (McLawsen, Gregory) (Entered: 10/16/2020)
2020-10-16	14	DECLARATION of Greg McLawsen filed by Plaintiff Katherine Honor Rich re 13 MOTION for Attorney Fees (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Hourly billings, # 2 Exhibit McLawsen CV, # 3 Exhibit Ratkowski Decl., # 4 Exhibit Niedermeyer Decl.)(McLawsen, Gregory) (Entered: 10/16/2020)
2020-10-16	15	DECLARATION of Katherine Honor Rich filed by Plaintiff Katherine Honor Rich re 13 MOTION for Attorney Fees (Attachments: # 1 Certificate of Service)(McLawsen, Gregory) (Entered: 10/16/2020)
2020-10-16	16	PRAECIPE to attach document re 15 Declaration by Plaintiff Katherine Honor Rich (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1 - Notice of Intent to Deny)(McLawsen, Gregory) (Entered: 10/16/2020)
2020-11-09	17	RESPONSE, by Defendant United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, to 13 MOTION for Attorney Fees . (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Order Denying Plaintiff's Motion for Fees and Costs)(Lambert, Michelle) (Entered: 11/09/2020)
2020-11-09	18	DECLARATION of Jill A. Eggleston filed by Defendant United States Citizenship and Immigration Services re 13 MOTION for Attorney Fees (Lambert, Michelle) (Entered: 11/09/2020)
2020-11-13	19	REPLY, filed by Plaintiff Katherine Honor Rich, TO RESPONSE to 13 MOTION for Attorney Fees (McLawsen, Gregory) (Entered: 11/13/2020)
2020-12-21	20	ORDER denying Plaintiff's 13 Motion for Attorney Fees. Signed by Judge James L. Robart. (LH) (Entered: 12/21/2020)
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