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Governor Cuomo Signs Attorney Fee FOIL Bill

December 13, 2017 | Posted in : Fee Award, Fee Entitlement / Recoverability, Legislation / Politics, Prevailing Party Issues

A recent Times Union story by Brendan J. Lyons, “Cuomo Signs Bill Strengthening FOIL Law,” reports that Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that will require judges to award attorneys' fees to litigants who "substantially prevail" in Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) cases.

The governor acknowledged the legislation is important but said it falls far short of comprehensively reforming the state's antiquated Freedom of Information Law, including not requiring greater transparency from the Legislature that sent the bill to his desk.

"The bill before me continues to perpetuate a fractured and inequitable system of transparency by only applying to the executive (branch), and intentionally excluding other branches of government," Cuomo said in a memo filed in support of the measure.  "Notably, current law already provides courts with discretion to award attorney's fees in such situations, but they are not required to do so."

Still, advocates for more transparency in government have hailed the legislation as necessary to prevent agencies at all levels of New York government from deliberately withholding public records or delaying responses unnecessarily.

Cuomo vetoed similar legislation two years ago that stated courts must award attorney's fees when an agency denies access to FOIL requests in "material violation" of the law.  The governor said the earlier bill did not define the term "material violation," which could have created confusion for judges who could reach different conclusions on what the term means.

The bill requires that courts "shall" assess reasonable legal costs in FOIL cases in which a person "substantially prevailed" and the court finds there was no reasonable basis for denying access to a record.  Courts have sparsely awarded attorney's fees in FOIL cases.  But not always.