Cite as: 506 U. S. 103 (1992)
O'Connor, J., concurring
position originally propounded . . . it would be stretching the imagination to consider the result a 'victory' in the sense of vindicating the rights of the fee claimants"). That is not to say that all nominal damages awards are de minimis. Nominal relief does not necessarily a nominal victory make. See ante, at 115. But, as in pre-Alyeska and Rule 54(d) practice, see supra, at 119, 120, a substantial difference between the judgment recovered and the recovery sought suggests that the victory is in fact purely technical. See ante, at 115 ("A plaintiff who seeks compensatory damages but receives no more than nominal damages" may "formally 'prevai[l]' under § 1988" but will "often" receive no fees at all). Here that suggestion is quite strong. Joseph Farrar asked for 17 million dollars; he got one. It is hard to envision a more dramatic difference.
The difference between the amount recovered and the damages sought is not the only consideration, however. Carey v. Piphus, 435 U. S. 247, 254 (1978), makes clear that an award of nominal damages can represent a victory in the sense of vindicating rights even though no actual damages are proved. Ante, at 112. Accordingly, the courts also must look to other factors. One is the significance of the legal issue on which the plaintiff claims to have prevailed. Garland, 489 U. S., at 792. Petitioners correctly point out that Joseph Farrar in a sense succeeded on a significant issue—liability. But even on that issue he cannot be said to have achieved a true victory. Respondent was just one of six defendants and the only one not found to have engaged in a conspiracy. If recovering one dollar from the least culpable defendant and nothing from the rest legitimately can be labeled a victory—and I doubt that it can—surely it is a hollow one. Joseph Farrar may have won a point, but the game, set, and match all went to the defendants.
Given that Joseph Farrar got some of what he wanted— one seventeen millionth, to be precise—his success might be considered material if it also accomplished some public goal
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