Bradley et al. v. School Board of the City of Richmond et al.

Decided May 15, 1974. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 72-1322 · 416 U.S. 696 (1974) · Cited 1,967 times

Holding

Section 718 can be applied to attorneys' services that were rendered before that provision was enacted, in a situation like the one here involved where the propriety of the fee award was pending resolution on appeal when the statute became law.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Green v. County School Board of New Kent County · 391 U.S. 430 (1968)
• Linkletter v. Walker · 381 U.S. 618 (1965)
• Greene v. United States · 376 U.S. 149 (1964)
• Carter v. West Feliciana Parish School Board · 396 U.S. 290 (1970)
• Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, Inc. · 390 U.S. 400 (1968)
• Thorpe v. Housing Authority of Durham · 393 U.S. 268 (1969)
• Northcross v. Memphis Board of Education · 412 U.S. 427 (1973)
• Bradley v. School Board of Richmond · 382 U.S. 103 (1965)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education · 402 U.S. 1 (1971)
• Mills v. Electric Auto-Lite Co. · 396 U.S. 375 (1970)
• Ziffrin, Inc. v. United States · 318 U.S. 73 (1943)
• Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp. · 337 U.S. 541 (1949)
• Brown Shoe Co. v. United States · 370 U.S. 294 (1962)
• Greene v. McElroy · 360 U.S. 474 (1959)
• Sprague v. Ticonic National Bank · 307 U.S. 161 (1939)
• Chicot County Drainage District v. Baxter State Bank · 308 U.S. 371 (1940)
• Hall v. Cole · 412 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Trustees v. Greenough · 105 U.S. 527 (1882)
• Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Insurance · 409 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Gillespie v. United States Steel Corp. · 379 U.S. 148 (1964)
• Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education · 396 U.S. 19 (1969)
• Dorchy v. Kansas · 264 U.S. 286 (1924)
• Vandenbark v. Owens-Illinois Glass Co. · 311 U.S. 538 (1941)
• Goldstein v. California · 412 U.S. 546 (1973)
• Union Pacific Railroad v. Laramie Stock Yards Co. · 231 U.S. 190 (1913)
• United States v. Chambers · 291 U.S. 217 (1934)
• Patterson v. Alabama · 294 U.S. 600 (1935)
• Carpenter v. Wabash Railway Co. · 309 U.S. 23 (1940)
• Claridge Apartments Co. v. Commissioner · 323 U.S. 141 (1944)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. v. Bonjorno · 494 U.S. 827 (1990)
• Landgraf v. USI Film Products · 511 U.S. 244 (1994)
• Rivers v. Roadway Express, Inc. · 511 U.S. 298 (1994)
• Bennett v. New Jersey · 470 U.S. 632 (1985)
• Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society · 421 U.S. 240 (1975)
• Kaiser Steel Corp. v. Mullins · 455 U.S. 72 (1982)
• Martin v. Hadix · 527 U.S. 343 (1999)
• Hanrahan v. Hampton · 446 U.S. 754 (1980)
• West Virginia University Hospitals, Inc. v. Casey · 499 U.S. 83 (1991)
• In Re Primus · 436 U.S. 412 (1978)
• Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs. · 436 U.S. 658 (1978)
• Hensley v. Eckerhart · 461 U.S. 424 (1983)
• Cort v. Ash · 422 U.S. 66 (1975)
• Hamling v. United States · 418 U.S. 87 (1974)
• Pennsylvania v. Ritchie · 480 U.S. 39 (1987)
• Hutto v. Finney · 437 U.S. 678 (1978)
• Burdick v. Takushi · 504 U.S. 428 (1992)
• White v. New Hampshire Department of Employment Security · 455 U.S. 445 (1982)
• F. D. Rich Co. v. United States Ex Rel. Industrial Lumber Co. · 417 U.S. 116 (1974)
• United States v. Security Industrial Bank · 459 U.S. 70 (1982)
• Gulf Offshore Co. v. Mobil Oil Corp. · 453 U.S. 473 (1981)
• Republic of Austria v. Altmann · 541 U.S. 677 (2004)
• Bell v. New Jersey · 461 U.S. 773 (1983)
• Anderson Bros. Ford v. Valencia · 452 U.S. 205 (1981)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Food Store Employees Union, Local 347 · 417 U.S. 1 (1974)
• Lackey v. Stinnie · 604 U.S. 192 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1974). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).