Parties in the Whitewood case continue to squabble over the amount of money owed to prevailing plaintiffs for legal fees and costs.
The Whitewood case, decided in May, resulted in marriage equality throughout Pennsylvania.
Now, the plaintiffs are seeking compensation from state and Bucks County officials for legal fees and costs totaling more than $1 million.
Federal law permits prevailing plaintiffs to recoup legal fees and costs in civil-rights cases.
But in an Aug. 29 court filing, state officials contend that Whitewood plaintiffs are seeking an “exorbitant amount” in compensation for legal fees and costs.
The exact amount sought by plaintiffs wasn’t specified in the court filing, but attorneys for the plaintiffs have confirmed it’s more than $1 million.
The parties attempted to settle the matter privately, but negotiations haven’t been “fruitful,” according to the Aug. 29 filing.
State attorneys want U.S. District Judge John E. Jones 3d to deny the plaintiffs’ request for an extension until Sept. 29 to file a formal fee petition.
They said granting an extension would only serve to increase the plaintiffs’ legal fees and costs, and they urged Jones to ensure that a reasonable fee petition is promptly filed.
“Plaintiffs’ attorneys have had more than enough time to gather their records and prepare the fee request,” said Joshua Maus, a spokesperson for the state Office of General Counsel. “The attorneys involved in this case [American Civil Liberties Union] are seasoned practitioners who are intimately familiar with this fee process.”
Maus also said that Whitewood plaintiffs are seeking compensation that’s “head and shoulders” above that sought by plaintiffs in similar same-sex-marriage cases around the country.
“Perhaps most importantly, allowing more time [to prepare a fee petition] just allows these lawyers to rack up more fees that will be billed to the Commonwealth, and taxpayers,” Maus added, in an email.
Witold “Vic” Walczak, an attorney for the plaintiffs, retorted that state officials are using the fee-compensation issue for political gain.
“They are playing politics,” he said. “They know that during the delay, we have not done any work on the [fee] petition, to save them money. Now we will have to do this, since they won’t negotiate further.”
Walczak also denied that plaintiffs’ attorneys are extending the process to inflate their compensable expenses.
“[Defendants’] comment about the size of our demand is pure politics because it is irrelevant to our requested extension,” Walczak added. “This is Gov. Corbett playing politics.”
At presstime, Jones hadn’t ruled on the plaintiffs’ deadline-extension request. Eventually, the judge must decide the amount of legal fees and costs to be awarded to plaintiffs.
Bucks County Register of Wills Donald Petrille Jr. also is a defendant in the Whitewood case, because he allegedly refused to issue a marriage-license application to a same-sex couple.
A law firm selected by Petrille filed an extensive anti-LGBT legal brief in the case that reportedly increased plaintiffs’ legal fees and costs.
Petrille had no comment for this story.