SMITH v. McDONOUGH

2020-1354.

995 F.3d 1338 (2021)

Robert L. SMITH, Claimant-Appellant v. Denis McDONOUGH, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Respondent-Appellee.

United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.

Decided: April 29, 2021.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Rachel Bayefsky , Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Washington, DC, argued for claimant-appellant. Also represented by Z.W. Julius Chen , Pratik A. Shah ; Joshua David Tate , Los Angeles, CA; Meghan Gentile , Harold Hamilton Hoffman, III , Veterans Legal Advocacy Group, Arlington, VA.

Robert R. Kiepura , Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, DC, argued for respondent-appellee. Also represented by Jeffrey B. Clark , Elizabeth Marie Hosford , Robert Edward Kirschman, Jr. ; Meghan Alphonso , Brian D. Griffin , Office of General Counsel, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC.

Allison Zieve , Public Citizen Litigation Group, Washington, DC, for amici curiae Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, National Veterans Legal Services Program, Public Citizen Foundation. Also represented by Scott L. Nelson .

Before PROST, Chief Judge, Plager and O'malley, Circuit Judges.


This is a veterans case, presenting an important question of proper compensation under the Equal Access to Justice Act ("EAJA"), codified in relevant part at 28 U.S.C. § 2412. Under the EAJA's fee-shifting provisions, the Federal Government, if the statutory requirements are met, must reimburse attorneys' fees of a party...

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