A U.S. Magistrate Judge in Puerto Rico has denied Plaintiffs’ motion for interim attorney’s fees in a systemic Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit against the Municipality of San Juan, ruling that a mediation-stay stipulated order does not confer prevailing party status.

The underlying dispute centers on the Municipality’s alleged systemic failure to install and maintain accessible curb ramps, sidewalks, and bus stops for individuals with mobility disabilities. Plaintiffs filed suit in 2019 seeking declaratory and injunctive relief under the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, alleging a pervasive pattern of discrimination in the public right-of-way.

Following years of mediation overseen by Magistrate Judge Giselle López-Soler, the parties reached a consensus on a stipulated order in August 2023. The Municipality consented to the intervention of the United States Department of Justice and agreed to a 36-month stay of proceedings.

Under the stipulated order, the Municipality committed to training employees on ADA compliance, establishing a public reporting system for accessibility barriers, and retaining an Accessibility Consultant to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the entire public sidewalk system. The Municipality also agreed that newly constructed or repaved work would include ADA-compliant curb ramps certified by an expert.

Despite these commitments, the Municipality explicitly rejected any admission of liability under the ADA in the stipulated order. The agreement was designed to gather information and facilitate future settlement negotiations, which are scheduled to formally begin in May 2026.

Plaintiffs moved for attorney’s fees under the ADA’s fee-shifting provision, arguing that the stipulated order mandated court-ordered actions and superseded any need for an explicit admission of liability. They contended that the order achieved a material alteration in their legal relationship with the Municipality.

Judge López-Soler denied the motion, applying the Supreme Court’s rulings in Buckhannon Bd. & Care Home, Inc. v. W. Va. Dep’t of Health & Hum. Res. and Lackey v. Stinnie. The court held that to qualify as a prevailing party, Plaintiffs needed to demonstrate both a material change in the legal relationship of the parties and the requisite judicial imprimatur.

The court assumed, without deciding, that the stipulated order achieved some of the benefits sought by Plaintiffs. However, it found the order lacked judicial imprimatur because the changes were voluntary compromises reached during mediation rather than court-ordered relief. The judge noted that her role as mediator was limited to overseeing compliance with the framework, not addressing the merits of the ADA claims.

The court distinguished the case from Lackey, noting that the plaintiff in that case had obtained an injunction, whereas Plaintiffs here secured no conclusive resolution or enduring judicial relief on the merits. The stipulated order merely established a path to future settlement discussions, leaving the underlying liability dispute unresolved.