In a consolidated appeal, US v. Thouvenot, Wade & Moerschen, Inc., No. 09-2421, the Seventh Circuit addressed the Equal Access to Justice Act which entitles a prevailing party in litigation with the United States to attorneys' fees unless the court finds that the position of the government was substantially justified.
In the first case involving a project site engineer, the court held that based on the evidence, defendant was not entitled to attorneys' fees as the government had a substantial though not winning case, against the defendant.
In the last two cases involving social security disability benefits, in deciding whether the agency had a substantial justification for turning down the application, the court reversed denial of fees to the claimant in the first case as the government's position was not substantially justified, and affirmed denial of fees in the second case on the basis that the agency's position had been substantially justified.
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