Jan M. Hamilton v. Northeast Kansas Health Systems Agency, Inc., and United States of America

McWILLIAMS, Circuit Judge.

This case arises from a district court order awarding Jan Hamilton a $5,000 attorney’s fee for prosecuting a claim against the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) on behalf of Northeast Kansas Health Systems Agency, Inc. (NKHSA). The order directs that the attorney’s fee be paid from certain federal grant funds. We find that the attorney’s fee may not be paid out of the federal grant funds and therefore reverse the judgment of the district court.

I. Background

NKHSA, now defunct, was a Kansas not-for-profit corporation. Until 1979, NKHSA was designated…