A U.S. Court of appeals for the 5th Circuit has ruled that obtaining a stay-put order pursuant to the IDEA is not sufficient to make a party a “prevailing party” entitled to attorney’s fees. The three-judge panel in Tina M. v. St. Tammany Parish Sch. Bd., concluded that a stay-put order is the functional equivalent of a preliminary injunction, and an “automatic procedural safeguard,” which does not materially alter the legal relationship between the parties.
March 2016
