Attorneys' Fees
IMPORTANT CHANGE REGARDING ATTORNEYS' FEES
FOR REPRESENTATION AT HEARING
In 2004, the General Assembly passed legislation authorizing the recovery of reasonable attorneys' fees by an employee who is represented by an attorney at a grievance hearing and substantially prevails on the merits of a grievance challenging his or her discharge. Pursuant to that legislation, in August 2004, the Department of Employment Dispute Resolution (EDR) adopted rules to govern fee awards. Those rules established hourly rates, and provided that beginning in July 2005, the EDR Director would review those rates annually in light of any needed cost-of-living adjustments. See Rules for Conducting Grievance Hearings , VI(D)("Attorneys' Fees").
After careful review, EDR has determined that a cost-of-living increase is appropriate for FY2008. Therefore, for grievances initiated on or after August 1, 2007, grievants will be allowed to recover at their attorneys' customary hourly rate not to exceed $131 per hour ($158 per hour if the attorney's practice is located in Northern Virginia ). This represents an increase of approximately 3.1%, an amount consistent with the cost of living adjustment adopted by the Virginia Retirement System.
Please call EDR's AdviceLine at 888-232-3842 (toll free) or 804-786-7994 with any questions regarding this change.