City of Burlington v. Ernest Dague, Sr., et al.
Decided June 24, 1992. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 91-810 · 505 U.S. 557 (1992) · Cited 1,519 times
Holding
The fee-shifting statutes at issue do not permit enhancement of a fee award beyond the lodestar amount to reflect the fact that a party's attorneys were retained on a contingent-fee basis.
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 6–3.
Majority · 6
- Antonin Scalia · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Byron Raymond White
- Clarence Thomas
- David Hackett Souter
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Dissenting · 3
- Harry Andrew Blackmun · filed a dissenting opinion
- John Paul Stevens
- Sandra Day O'Connor · filed a dissenting opinion
“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.
- Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens' Council for Clean Air · 483 U.S. 711 (1987)
- Hensley v. Eckerhart · 461 U.S. 424 (1983)
- Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens' Council for Clean Air · 478 U.S. 546 (1986)
- Venegas v. Mitchell · 495 U.S. 82 (1990)
- Blum v. Stenson · 465 U.S. 886 (1984)
- Blanchard v. Bergeron · 489 U.S. 87 (1989)
- Missouri v. Jenkins Ex Rel. Agyei · 491 U.S. 274 (1989)
- West Virginia University Hospitals, Inc. v. Casey · 499 U.S. 83 (1991)
- Independent Federation of Flight Attendants v. Zipes · 491 U.S. 754 (1989)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Gisbrecht v. Barnhart · 535 U.S. 789 (2002)
- Buckhannon Board & Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Dept. of Health and Human Resources · 532 U.S. 598 (2001)
- Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc. · 510 U.S. 517 (1994)
- Fox v. Vice · 563 U.S. 826 (2011)
- Rapanos v. United States · 547 U.S. 715 (2006)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Antonin Scalia’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1992). 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).