A "substantially prevailing" party in a CPLR Article 78 involving New York State's Freedom of Information Law may claim "attorneys' fee and costs" where the information demanded was withheld by the custodian of the records and the party seeking the information was required to seek judicial assistance to obtain them.*
In this action the Appellate Division, citing Matter of Dioso Faustino Freedom of Info. Law Request v City of New York, 191 AD3d 504, ruled that where the custodian of the records [Custodian] had "no reasonable basis for denying access" to the records sought pursuant to FOIL, it was undisputed that Petitioner substantially prevailed" as Custodian, during the pendency of this proceeding, "disclosed the records sought in the FOIL request with limited redactions."
A "substantially prevailing" party in a CPLR Article 78 involving New York State's Freedom of Information Law [FOIL] may claim "attorneys' fee and costs" where the information demanded was withheld by the custodian of the records and the party seeking the information was required to seek judicial assistance to obtain the documents or records demanded.
Significantly, the court opined "the voluntariness of [the] disclosure is irrelevant to the issue of whether [Petitioner] substantially prevailed".
As Custodian had conceded the issue of whether it had a reasonable basis for denying access in a prior FOIL proceeding between the same parties before "this court", which was limited to one of the documents at issue here, a medical screening manual, the Appellate Division remanded the matter to Supreme Court for a determination of Petitioner's attorneys' fees and other litigation costs.
* Public Officers Law §89[4][c][ii].
Click HEREto access the decision of the Appellate Division posted on the Internet.