Case Detail

FOIA Project Annotation: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has ruled that the Environmental Integrity Project is entitled to attorney's fees because of its FOIA litigation against U.S. General Services Administration for records concerning whether the EPA and the Department of Interior had provided GSA with statutorily required travel reports. When GSA received the request, it told EIP to request the two reports directly from EPA and Interior rather than from GSA. EIP told GSA that it specifically requested the reports from GSA to confirm the reports had been properly submitted. Although GSA had indicated that it would not refer the request to EPA or Interior for response, it did so after being persuaded by EIP's administrative appeal, arguing the agency had a duty to refer the requests itself. EPA and Interior provided the reports and once GSA confirmed that the reports were indeed in its system, EIP agreed to dismiss its suit except for its request for attorney's fees. The attorney's fees issue was assigned to Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson, who concluded that EIP was not entitled to fees because its suit did not cause GSA to process the request. However, Brown Jackson disagreed. She noted that "in its initial response to EIP's FOIA request, GSA disclaimed any responsibility for providing the requested records. . .Nothing about GSA's response indicated any intention of referring EIP's FOIA request to the agencies on its own â€" to the contrary, GSA unequivocally announced that its advice to EIP regarding how EIP should proceed 'completed [the agency's] action on this FOIA request.'" She observed that "what the record does show is that GSA did not agree to refer EIP's requests to the agencies until approximately three months after EIP filed an administrative appeal that argued that GSA had such a duty, and the direct referral was made just three days before GSA's answer to EIP's complaint in this action was due." Brown Jackson also found GSA had re-referred EIP's requests after being told by EIP that its initial referrals did not include much of EIP's contact information. She pointed out that "because GSA's re-referral emails appear to have been tailored to include most of the information that EIP had faulted GSA for omitting in the initial referrals, this Court has little doubt that the arguments EIP made in the context of this lawsuit substantially caused GSA to re-refer EIP's request." Brown Jackson found that EIP's request served the public interest and that EIP had neither a commercial nor personal motivation in making the request. She then concluded that GSA's failure to automatically refer the request was unreasonable. She noted that "when an agency makes a referral to another agency it is the FOIA request or the responsive document that is being referred â€" not the requestor itself. This Court is not aware of any authority suggesting that an agency's mere provision of the originating agency's contact information to the requester constitutes a proper referral under the FOIA, and GSA has not cited any case to that effect." Brown Jackson reduced EIP's fee request by removing hours EIP had claimed for reviewing its billing entries. As a result, she awarded EIP $36,578 in fees and $423 in costs.
Issues: Litigation - Attorney's fees - Eligibility - Causal effect

Date Filed	Doc #	Docket Text
2018-01-08	1	COMPLAINT against GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION ( Filing fee $ 400 receipt number 0090-5278086) filed by ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY PROJECT. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Exhibit D, # 5 Exhibit E, # 6 Civil Cover Sheet, # 7 Summons USAO, # 8 Summons GSA, # 9 Summons US Attorney General)(Schaeffer, Eric) (Attachment 6 replaced on 1/9/2018) (zsth). (Entered: 01/08/2018)
2018-01-08	2	Corporate Disclosure Statement by ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY PROJECT. (Schaeffer, Eric) (Entered: 01/08/2018)
2018-01-08		Case Assigned to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. (sth) (Entered: 01/09/2018)
2018-01-09	3	SUMMONS (2) Issued Electronically as to U.S. Attorney and U.S. Attorney General (Attachments: # 1 Notice and Consent)(zsth) Modified on 1/10/2018 (znmw). (Entered: 01/09/2018)
2018-01-09	4	NOTICE Corrected GSA Summons by ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY PROJECT (Schaeffer, Eric) (Entered: 01/09/2018)
2018-01-09	5	GENERAL ORDER AND GUIDELINES FOR CIVIL CASES BEFORE JUDGE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON. The Court will hold the parties and counsel responsible for following these directives, and parties and counsel should pay particular attention to the Courts instructions for briefing motions and filing exhibits. Failure to adhere to this Order may, when appropriate, result the imposition of sanctions and/or sua sponte denial of non-conforming motions. Signed by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on 1/9/2018. (lckbj1) (Entered: 01/09/2018)
2018-01-10	6	SUMMONS (1) Issued Electronically as to GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION. (Attachments: # 1 Notice and Consent) (md) (Entered: 01/10/2018)
2018-01-22	7	RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed as to the United States Attorney. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney on 1/16/2018. Answer due for ALL FEDERAL DEFENDANTS by 2/15/2018. (Attachments: # 1 Certified Mail Receipt)(Schaeffer, Eric) (Entered: 01/22/2018)
2018-01-22	8	RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION served on 1/12/2018 (Attachments: # 1 Certified Mail Receipt)(Schaeffer, Eric) (Entered: 01/22/2018)
2018-01-22	9	RETURN OF SERVICE/AFFIDAVIT of Summons and Complaint Executed on United States Attorney General. Date of Service Upon United States Attorney General 01/17/2018. (Attachments: # 1 Certified Mail Receipt)(Schaeffer, Eric) (Entered: 01/22/2018)
2018-01-31	10	NOTICE of Appearance by Jason Todd Cohen on behalf of GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION (Cohen, Jason) (Entered: 01/31/2018)
2018-02-15	11	ANSWER to 1 Complaint, by GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.(Cohen, Jason) (Entered: 02/15/2018)
2018-02-22		MINUTE ORDER. Before the Court in this FOIA case are a complaint and an answer. It is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall promptly confer and file a joint proposed schedule for briefing or disclosure, on or before 3/8/2018. Signed by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on 02/22/2018. (lckbj1) (Entered: 02/22/2018)
2018-03-08	12	PROPOSED BRIEFING SCHEDULE (Joint) by GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Cohen, Jason) (Entered: 03/08/2018)
2018-03-12		MINUTE ORDER adopting parties' Joint Proposed Schedule. It is hereby ORDERED that the following deadlines are set in this matter: Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is due on or before 4/26/2018; Plaintiffs' consolidated Opposition and Cross Moion for Summary Judgment is due on or before 5/17/2018; Defendant's consolidated Reply and Cross-Motion Opposition is due on or before 6/7/2018; Plaintiffs' Cross-Motion Reply is due on or before 6/21/2018. Signed by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on 03/12/2018. (lckbj1) (Entered: 03/12/2018)
2018-04-24	13	First MOTION for Extension of Time to File Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment by GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Cohen, Jason) (Entered: 04/24/2018)
2018-04-25	14	RESPONSE re 13 First MOTION for Extension of Time to File Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Opposition) filed by ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY PROJECT. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A)(Schaeffer, Eric) (Entered: 04/25/2018)
2018-05-02		MINUTE ORDER granting fro good cause shown, 13 Motion for Extension of Time to File Brief. It is hereby ORDERED that the briefing schedule in this matter is amended as follows: Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is due on or before 5/3/2018; Plaintiffs' consolidated Opposition and Cross Motion for Summary Judgment is due on or before 5/24/2018; Defendant's consolidated Reply and Cross-Motion Opposition is due on or before 6/14/2018; and Plaintiffs' Cross-Motion Reply is due on or before 6/28/2018. While no further extensions of the deadline for Defendant to file its motion for summary judgment will be granted, this Court will entertain a motion from Plaintiff to extend the remaining schedule to accommodate other deadlines and obligations. Signed by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on 05/02/2018. (lckbj1) (Entered: 05/02/2018)
2018-05-03	15	MOTION for Summary Judgment by GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum in Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment, # 2 Defendant's Statement of Material Facts Not In Genuine Dispute, # 3 Declaration of Travis Lewis, # 4 Exhibits A-F to Lewis Declaration, # 5 Text of Proposed Order)(Cohen, Jason) (Entered: 05/03/2018)
2018-05-24	16	Cross MOTION for Summary Judgment by ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY PROJECT (Attachments: # 1 Memorandum in Support of Plaintiff's Opposition to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment and Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment, # 2 Statement of Facts and Response to Defendant's Statement of Material Facts, # 3 Declaration of Sylvia Lam, # 4 Exhibit A to F, # 5 Text of Proposed Order)(Schaeffer, Eric) . (Entered: 05/24/2018)
2018-05-24	17	Memorandum in opposition to re 15 MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY PROJECT. (See Docket Entry 16 to view document) (jf) (Entered: 05/30/2018)
2018-05-25		NOTICE OF ERROR re 16 Motion for Summary Judgment; emailed to eschaeffer@environmentalintegrity.org, cc'd 6 associated attorneys -- The PDF file you docketed contained errors: 1. Two-part docket entry, 2. When you have a document that has multiple events, you must file all parts. Please file an entry for your Opposition. (ztd, ) (Entered: 05/25/2018)
2018-06-08	18	Consent MOTION for Extension of Time to File Response/Reply as to 15 MOTION for Summary Judgment , 16 Cross MOTION for Summary Judgment and Opposition to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment by GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Cohen, Jason) (Entered: 06/08/2018)
2018-06-11		MINUTE ORDER granting, for good cause shown, 18 Consent Motion for Extension of Time to File Brief. It is hereby ORDERED that the briefing schedule in this matter is modified as follows: Defendant's consolidated Reply and Cross-Motion Opposition is due on or before 7/16/2018; and Plaintiffs' Cross-Motion Reply is due on or before 7/30/2018. Signed by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on 06/11/2018. (lckbj1) (Entered: 06/11/2018)
2018-07-12	19	Joint MOTION to Stay Proceedings by ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY PROJECT (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Schaeffer, Eric) (Entered: 07/12/2018)
2018-07-13		MINUTE ORDER. Where only attorneys' fees remain at issue in a FOIA case, it is the practice of this Court to close the case administratively while it awaits notice from the parties regarding settlement of the attorneys' fee or or a joint proposed schedule for briefing this remaining dispute. Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that this matter be ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSED and the 19 Motion to Stay is DENIED as moot. It is FURTHER ORDERED that the parties shall file a joint status report on or before 8/31/2018, which shall contain a proposed schedule for briefing the issue of attorneys' fees, if such briefing is going to be necessary. Signed by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on 07/13/2018. (lckbj1) (Entered: 07/13/2018)
2018-08-31	20	Joint STATUS REPORT by GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION. (Cohen, Jason) (Entered: 08/31/2018)
2018-09-06		MINUTE ORDER. In light of the representations in the parties' 20 Joint Status Report, it is hereby ORDERED that the parties shall file a further joint status report on or before 9/14/2018, which shall contain a proposed schedule for briefing the issue of attorneys' fees, if such briefing is going to be necessary. Signed by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on 09/06/2018. (lckbj1) (Entered: 09/06/2018)
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