Lawyers of Black Farmers Will Collect $90M in Fees
Lawyers of Black Farmers Will Collect $90M in Fees
(CN) - Lawyers who made the government pay $1.25 billion to settle claims that it discriminated against black farmers can recoup $90.8 million in fees, a federal judge ruled.
The settlement class in this 2011 case had missed the deadline to submit claims in the Pigford v. Glickman consent decree from 1999. They claimed that U.S. Department of Agriculture officers were racially motivated when they denied benefits to black applicants and ignored their complaints from January 1983 to January 1997.
In the $1.25 billion agreement that U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman approved in 2011, attorneys for the farmers can collect between 4.1 percent and 7.4 percent of the settlement funds after the deduction of implementation costs.
While the attorneys sought the highest amount possible to cover costs and fees, the government urged the court to stick to the lower percentage.
Lauding the efforts of the farmes' representatives, Friedman granted the maximum award of $90.8 million on Thursday.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/07/15/59368.htm
= new reply since forum marked as read
I still think they should give it to the farmers 
