How much will attorneys get from proposed Flint water settlement? They still aren't saying
Paul EganLANSING — How much of the proposed $641.25-million Flint drinking water settlement would go to pay attorney fees and costs has still not been disclosed in documents filed in federal court early Wednesday.
That means it still is not publicly known how much would be distributed to Flint residents who were impacted by the lead poisoning of the city’s drinking water supply, which began in April 2014.
If attorneys were to seek one-third of the total settlement — which is the cap on attorney fees referenced in a proposed notice to class members — that would amount to $213.7 million.
In a court filing, attorneys say they have reached an agreement on how much to request from the settlement, but they plan to disclose that figure in a separate court filing no more than 30 days after the federal judge handling the case, U.S. District Judge Judith Levy, gives preliminary approval to the proposed settlement.
"Plaintiffs wish to inform the court that interim class counsel and liaison counsel have reached an agreement regarding the amount of attorneys’ fees they intend to request from the settlement," as well as how to allocate the fees among the various lawyers, attorneys said in a footnote to Wednesday's filing.
More:City of Flint, other defendants agree to settle water lawsuit as total boosted to $641.2M
More:Flint water crisis legal settlement totals $600M, creates victim compensation fund
"Counsel believe that submitting a single, agreed-upon request for fees will streamline the process for evaluating that request. The anticipated motion for attorneys’ fees will provide additional information regarding what fees are requested, how plaintiffs’ counsel propose allocating those fees, and the legal and factual support upon which plaintiffs rely to support the request."
According to a proposed notice, attorney fees will not exceed 33.33% "of the amount of the fund allocated to payment of claims of settlement class members."
That one-third cap would be applied to the entire settlement amount, said Ryan Jarvi, a spokesman for Attorney General Dana Nessel.
Attorneys did not respond Wednesday morning to emails and texts seeking information on the size of fees that would be requested.
"It is important to note that Judge Levy will review and approve whatever attorney fees are permitted," Jarvi said in a Wednesday email.
Disclosing the fees after preliminary approval of the proposed settlement but before final approval is consistent with the practice in other class-action lawsuits, attorneys said in the court filing.
The cases have already involved scores of attorneys and several trips to appellate courts at both the state and federal levels. Wednesday's court filing alone was signed by more than 30 attorneys from more than a dozen firms.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.