Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School & Child Care

Dispute Resolution and Legal Remedies
532 U.S. at 604 (quotation omitted), and there must be “judicial imprimatur” on the
change.” Id. at 605 (emphasis in original). It is not clear if the Supreme Court’s examples
of judicial action (securing a judgment on the merits or the obtaining of a court-ordered
consent decree) are the only acceptable options, or whether other forms of relief are
sufficient to confer prevailing party status.
The following circuits follow Buckhannon in the context of the IDEA:
First Circuit
Smith v. Fitchburg Public Schools, 282 F.3d 268 (1 st Cir. 2005)
Doe v. Boston Public Schools, 358 F.3d 20 (1 st Cir. 2004)
Second Circuit
A.R. v. New York City Department of Education, 03-7258 (2d Cir. June 3, 2005 amended
decision)
J.C. v. Regional School District 10, Board of Education, 278 F.3d 119 (2d Cir. 2002 )
Third Circuit
John T. v. Del. County Intermediate Unit, 318 F.3d 545 (3d Cir. 2003)
Fourth Circuit
G. v. Fort Bragg Dependent Schools, 324 F.3d 240 (4 th Cir. 2003)
Smyth v. Rivero, 282 F.3d 268 (4 th Cir. 2002) (not an IDEA case; Buckhannon applies to
all prevailing party fee-shifting statutes)
Fifth Circuit
No circuit court cases, but see: Matthew V. v. DeKalb County, 245 F. Supp.2d 1331,
1341-2 (N.D. Ga. 2003)
Seventh Circuit
T.D. v. LaGrange School District No. 102, 349 F.3d 469 (7 th Cir. 2003)
Eighth Circuit
Christina A. v. Bloomberg, 315 F.3d 990 (8 th Cir. 2003)
Ninth Circuit
Shapiro v. Paradise Valley Unified School District No. 69, 374 F.3d 857 (9 th Cir. 2004)
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