ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the facts and legal arguments presented in Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society. In 1970, the Wilderness Society and other environmental groups sought to enjoin the issuance of construction permits for the trans-Alaska pipeline. Despite the public funding of legal aid offices, the author argues that clients of these offices should be entitled to the same leverage that clients of private attorneys enjoy through awarding of attorneys’ fees in certain kinds of cases. In both instances, the same rationales for awarding attorneys’ fees apply. The arguments against this position – that such fee awards might constitute a windfall to the nonpaying client, that legal aid offices cannot accept the awards, and that these offices have no corresponding liabilities — are determined by the author to be unfounded. Writing at a time of marked increase in public interest litigation, the author premises his article on the importance of awarding counsel costs in public interest law suits.
