In December — when he signed off on a $3.4 billion settlement aimed at ending a massive class action filed by Native Americans against the federal government — President Barack Obama said, “It’s finally time to make things right.” Five months later, the matter isn’t quite settled. One reason: a dispute over how much of the landmark payout — the largest ever by the U.S. government in a class action — should go to the plaintiffs lawyers who worked on the case known as Cobell v. Salazar.
On June 20 those lawyers — solo practitioner Dennis Gingold and a group from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton — are to appear at a fairness hearing before Washington, D.C., federal district court judge Thomas Hogan. The Cobell team will tell Hogan why it deserves $223 million in fees instead of the $50 million to $99.9 million it agreed to in December 2009 under the settlement (though the lawyers say they won’t fight Hogan’s ruling if he awards fees in that range). U.S. Department of Justice lawyers will tell Hogan why they believe that even $99.9 million is “grossly excessive” and that $50 million should suffice.
