$1.2-1.8 Million Fee Request Not Honored Against Madera Unified School District.
In our November 16, 2009 “In the News” post, we discussed lawsuits being pressed under the California Voting Rights Act for shutting out minority participation in school district elections. School districts either had to pay or were potentially billed for millions of dollars in these lawsuits being prosecuted in different California venues.
One of the largest potential fee requests arose out of a 2008 lawsuit brought by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area against Madera Unified School District, which did not contest it. Plaintiff’s attorneys billed the district for $1.2 million, an amount later reported to have been increased to $1.8 million.
In an order issued on August 23, 2010, Madera County Superior Court Judge James Oakley reduced the requested amount of $162,500, calling this amount “fair and reasonable.”
Cities and school district had feared fee exposure in these cases, with the Madera case being one of the most closely watched matters. For more details on this one, see Michael R. Blood’s August 26, 2010 posted article “Judge slashes Calif. Election case attorney fees” in the mercurynews.com.