DOJ Asks Judge To Limit Fees At $30.4M In Class Action

U.S. Justice Department lawyers have asked a federal judge in Washington to limit legal fees in a Native American farmer and rancher class action to $30.4 million, the low end of a range the lawyers in the case agreed to in a $760 million settlement. The plaintiffs’ lawyers, led by Joseph Sellers of Washington's Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, has asked for an 8% cut, or $60.8 million, for the work performed in Keepseagle v. Vilsack since it was filed in 1999. In November, a judge preliminarily approved the settlement, which resolves claims the government discriminated in farm loan servicing and processing. In their fee petition (PDF) , filed in January, the plaintiffs’ lawyers said they “worked vigorously and without compensation for over eleven years” to reach a settlement amid hard-fought litigation. DOJ lawyers, in court papers filed March 18, urged Judge Emmet Sullivan of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia not to approve $60.8 million...more