Hensley et al. v. Eckerhart et al.

Decided May 16, 1983. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-1244 · 461 U.S. 424 (1983) · Cited 17,202 times

Holding

The District Court did not properly consider the relationship between the extent of success and the amount of the attorney's fee award.

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 5–4.

“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.

• Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society · 421 U.S. 240 (1975)
• Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, Inc. · 390 U.S. 400 (1968)
• Christiansburg Garment Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 434 U.S. 412 (1978)
• Mills v. Electric Auto-Lite Co. · 396 U.S. 375 (1970)
• New York Gaslight Club, Inc. v. Carey · 447 U.S. 54 (1980)
• Bradley v. School Bd. of Richmond · 416 U.S. 696 (1974)
• Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer · 427 U.S. 445 (1976)
• Hall v. Cole · 412 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Maher v. Gagne · 448 U.S. 122 (1980)
• Permian Basin Area Rate Cases · 390 U.S. 747 (1968)
• Hanrahan v. Hampton · 446 U.S. 754 (1980)
• Zurcher v. Stanford Daily · 436 U.S. 547 (1978)

Cited by

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

• Marek v. Chesny · 473 U.S. 1 (1985)
• Webb v. County Board of Education · 471 U.S. 234 (1985)
• City of Riverside v. Rivera · 477 U.S. 561 (1986)
• Texas State Teachers Ass'n v. Garland Independent School District · 489 U.S. 782 (1989)
• Blum v. Stenson · 465 U.S. 886 (1984)
• Farrar v. Hobby · 506 U.S. 103 (1992)
• Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens' Council for Clean Air · 478 U.S. 546 (1986)
• Fox v. Vice · 563 U.S. 826 (2011)
• Blanchard v. Bergeron · 489 U.S. 87 (1989)
• Gisbrecht v. Barnhart · 535 U.S. 789 (2002)
• Commissioner, Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Jean · 496 U.S. 154 (1990)
• Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens' Council for Clean Air · 483 U.S. 711 (1987)
• Evans v. Jeff D. Ex Rel. Johnson · 475 U.S. 717 (1986)
• City of Burlington v. Dague · 505 U.S. 557 (1992)
• Smith v. Robinson · 468 U.S. 992 (1984)
• CRST Van Expedited, Inc. v. Equal Emp't Opportunity Comm'n · 578 U.S. 419 (2016)
• Pierce v. Underwood · 487 U.S. 552 (1988)
• Buckhannon Board & Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Dept. of Health and Human Resources · 532 U.S. 598 (2001)
• Lackey v. Stinnie · 604 U.S. 192 (2025)
• Gall v. United States · 552 U.S. 38 (2007)
• Kentucky v. Graham · 473 U.S. 159 (1985)
• Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc. · 510 U.S. 517 (1994)
• Ruckelshaus v. Sierra Club · 463 U.S. 680 (1983)
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. Haeger · 581 U.S. 101 (2017)
• Independent Federation of Flight Attendants v. Zipes · 491 U.S. 754 (1989)
• Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. · 579 U.S. 197 (2016)
• Planned Parenthood Assn. of Kansas City, Mo., Inc. v. Ashcroft · 462 U.S. 476 (1983)
• North Carolina Department of Transportation v. Crest Street Community Council, Inc. · 479 U.S. 6 (1986)
• Astrue v. Ratliff · 560 U.S. 586 (2010)
• Missouri v. Jenkins Ex Rel. Agyei · 491 U.S. 274 (1989)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1983). 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).