The Supreme Court Limits Attorneys' Fee Awards
The public interest suffered a major judicial setback on May 12, when the Supreme Court announced its decision in Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society,1 declaring erroneous a line of decisions awarding attorneys' fees to environmental and other public interest plaintiffs.2 The five-Justice majority held that only Congress, not the courts, can authorize an exception to the "American rule" that attorneys' fees cannot ordinarily be recovered by a prevailing party from a losing party.