Jeffers v. Tucker

RICHARD S. ARNOLD, Chief Circuit Judge.

The question before us is whether we may increase the lodestar portion of the attorneys’ fees previously awarded so that it reflects the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ risk of loss for undertaking the case on a contingent basis. In Jeffers v. Clinton, 776 F.Supp. 465, 473-74 (E.D.Ark.1991), after setting the attorneys’ lodestar—that is, the product of reasonable hours expended times a reasonable hourly rate—we granted a 50 per cent, enhancement to compensate the attorneys for their contingency risk. We granted a partial stay of that order on December 6, 1991.…