Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Michael Webb v. Edmund Trombley, Corrections Officer, Great Meadow Correctional Facility, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, No. 24-2582 · judgment October 24, 2025
Before the decision, about 2.1× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a circuit split argued in the petition, a Second Circuit decision below, and a petition citing three to ten dissents.
Question presented
When an incarcerated litigant is awarded attorney’s fees in a judgment vindicating his civil rights, 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d)(2) provides that “a portion of the judgment (not to exceed 25 percent) shall be applied to satisfy the amount of attorney’s fees awarded against the defendant. If the award of attorney’s fees is not greater than 150 percent of the judgment, the excess shall be paid by the defendant.” (Emphasis added). The question presented is: does the language of the second sentence of 42 U.S.C. § 1997e(d)(2) prohibit awards of attorney’s fees that are greater than 150% of the judgment?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Brian David Ginsberg
Harris Beach Cullina Murtha PLLC
For respondent
Barbara Dale Underwood
New York Solicitor General
Case
Subject area
Attorneys (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference
Linked docket
25A1047
Order
Order list, October 5, 2026 · Certiorari denied
Proceedings
- Oct 05 2026Petition DENIED.
- Jul 01 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2026.
- Jun 24 2026Waiver of right of respondent Edmund Trombley, et al. to respond filed.
- May 29 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 6, 2026)
- Apr 21 2026Application (25A1047) granted by Justice Sotomayor extending the time to file until May 29, 2026.
- Apr 17 2026Application (25A1047) to extend further the time from April 29, 2026 to May 29, 2026, submitted to Justice Sotomayor.
- Mar 25 2026Application (25A1047) granted by Justice Sotomayor extending the time to file until April 29, 2026.
- Mar 19 2026Application (25A1047) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from March 30, 2026 to April 29, 2026, submitted to Justice Sotomayor.