On May 3, 2016, in Radtke v. Caschetta, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit joined other circuits in holding that a fee petition is timely if filed no later than 14 days after a Rule 59 motion is resolved ( (D.C. Cir. May 3, 2016)).

In 2006, the plaintiffs brought suit against their employers for failure to pay overtime in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Maryland state law. The case proceeded to trial and the plaintiffs received damages for their unpaid overtime wages. Because the plaintiffs successfully recovered unpaid wages, they were entitled to reasonable attorneys' fees under the FLSA. The plaintiffs petitioned for $250,000 in attorneys' fees and the district court ultimately awarded them just over $56,000. Both the plaintiffs and defendants appealed.

The defendants moved to strike the fee petition, arguing that the petition should be denied in its entirety because it was untimely. Rule 54 requires a party to file a petition for attorneys' fees no later than 14 days after the entry of judgment (FRCP 54(d)(2)(B)(i)). The plaintiffs filed their petition 15 days after the lower court's initial entry of judgment.

The DC Circuit vacated the district court's finding that the fee petition was untimely. The DC Circuit, joining other circuits that have considered the issue (including the US Courts of Appeals for the Second, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits), held that a fee petition is timely if filed no later than 14 days after a Rule 59 motion is resolved.

The DC Circuit found that, despite the initial untimeliness of the plaintiffs' fee petition, the district court's entry of an amended judgment created a new period for filing and cured that untimeliness even though the petition was filed before the entry of the new judgment. Additionally, the court noted that the plain language of Rule 54 requires a petition to be filed "no later than" 14 days, not "within" 14 days, of judgment.