Arlington Central School District v. Murphy
The Murphys sued the Arlington Central School District Board of Education seeking to require Arlington to pay their son's private school tuition under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The IDEA, which requires public schools to provide a free and appropriate public education to children with disabilities, has a "fee shifting" provision that awards attorneys' fees and costs to the prevailing party in a law suit. The district court ruled in favor of the Murphys, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. The Murphys then requested the district court to award fees and costs, including $29,350 in fees for the services of an educational consultant. The district court granted attorneys' fees to the Murphys and also ordered Arlington to pay $8,650 for the educational consultant's fees. On appeal, Arlington argued that the IDEA does not explicitly allow for the recovery of costs, and that "costs" is a legal "term of art" that does not generally include expert fees in civil rights litigation. The Second Circuit rejected this argument, ruling that the legislative history of the IDEA shows that Congress intended expert fees to be recoverable under the IDEA's fee shifting provision. Thus, the Second Circuit affirmed the district court's award of the educational consultant's fees to the Murphys.
Question Presented:
Does the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (the "IDEA ")'s attorneys' fees shifting provision, 20 U.S.C. ยง 1415(i)(3)(B), authorize a court to award "expert" fees to the parents of a
child with a disability who is a prevailing party under the IDEA?
