David Peery v. City of Miami

JORDAN, Circuit Judge:

In the hierarchy of law, language is king. Words matter in constitutions, treaties, statutes, rules, cases, and contracts. And, as seen in this case, they matter in civil rights settlement agreements which, once judicially approved, become consent decrees.

David Peery, on behalf of a class, asks us to award his counsel attorneys’ fees for opposing modifications proposed by the City of Miami to such an agreement. We decline to do so because the parties’ agreement limited future attorneys’ fees to enforcement proceedings. Given that modification proceedings do not trigger…