Lawsuit against unreasonable lawyers fees
07/23/99
Three legislators want a court to block a $75 million fee agreement between the tobacco industry and law firms that represented Wisconsin in its lawsuit against cigarette makers.
They filed a lawsuit Thursday in Circuit Court, calling the lawyers' fees unreasonable. The legislators want the fee money given to the state, which then would pay the three firms.
Rather than $75 million, the lawsuit suggests the firms get $5.8 million, or about $233 an hour.
"They' ve negotiated an agreement that calls for fees in the ballpark of $3, 000 an hour, " said Glenn Stoddard, who represents the legislators along with attorney Edward Garvey. " That' s way beyond what would be a reasonable hourly rate in a case like this or in any case."
Cigarettes
