The business owners and politicians who are a part of the lawsuit challenging Governor Wolf’s shutdown orders are now asking for the court to award them attorney fees.
A motion was filed before Judge William Stickman IV on Monday requesting approximately $134,000 in attorney fees and costs at an hourly rate of what the county normally pays for legal work.
Attorney Tom King of Dillon, McCandless, King, Coulter, and Graham explains the reasoning behind this request.
“Under Section 1983 federal statute, and section 1988, anyone who wins a civil rights case, is entitled to request a payment of fees by the other side. We were the prevailing party in the particular case on behalf of the political and business clients, therefore ask that our fees be reimbursed.”
According to the filing, that would be for 776 hours of work from local lawyers on the case. Although the firm continues to work on the appeal of the decision in this case, another organization has offered to pay the legal fees associated with the work that is happening now.
“The Thomas Moore Legal Society of Chicago, Illinois, has offered, and we’ve accepted to pay for all of that work. So no one will be billed for any of the work on the appeal,” King said.
Butler County, which originally served as a lead plaintiff on the lawsuit, was dismissed in the ruling by Judge Stickman.
