The Office of the Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States issued Revised Model Rules for Implementation of the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) in August 2019. The Revised Model Rules update the uniform procedures for the submission and consideration of applications for attorney fees under EAJA that were last issued in 1986. These Revised Model Rules reflect, among other things, amendments to the Act made by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act and evolving adjudicative practices. The Revised Model Rules issued by the Office of the Chairman are substantially identical to the Revised Model Rules endorsed by the Conference Assembly in Recommendation 2019-4.
The Office of the Chairman urges agencies to use the Revised Model Rules to satisfy their statutory obligation to “consult[] with the Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States” when “establish[ing] uniform procedures for the submission and consideration of applications for an award of fees and other expenses” in connection with certain adversarial adjudications (5 U.S.C. § 504(c)(1)).