NEWS

Tennessee AG: Same-sex marriage lawyers overcharging

Stacey Barchenger
USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee
Megan Barry performed the first same-sex marriage between Lauren Mesnard, 25, and Nikki VonHaeger, 26, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned state bans on same-sex marriage in June 2015. Attorneys who defeated the ban are still battling with the state to recoup their fees.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery says 19 lawyers seeking $2.3 million for their work overturning the state's ban on same-sex marriage are overcharging taxpayers.

He says they only deserve $1.1 million.

In a court document unsealed March 7, Slatery says lawyers in other states involved in the historic civil rights case asked to recoup much less money. He says the lawyers in Tennessee's case — who are from around the country — are trying to take advantage of taxpayers by asking for excessive and unreasonable fees.

"It seeks to compensate the work of a legal team that ballooned to 19 attorneys, billing a total of nearly 6,000 hours," the state's filing reads. It says the lawyers' documentation of time spent working on the case is vague, and alleges they duplicated work and charged for things they should not have — such as attending press conferences.

Slatery says several of the attorneys, including Abby Rubenfeld and a team from law firm Sherrard & Roe in Nashville, were  unnecessary to the case after Washington, D.C., law firm Ropes & Gray got involved to prepare to argue at the U.S. Supreme Court.

READ: The Tennessee Attorney General's response, and the lawyers' reply in support of their request for $2.3 million.

Four states — Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky — were involved in the case that led the nation's highest court to declare same-sex marriage legal in June.

Lawyers representing same-sex couples in those states are entitled to payment of attorneys fees under federal law. In Ohio, they were paid $1.3 million in a settlement. In Kentucky, lawyers got $1.1 million; in Michigan, $1.9 million, according to court records.

Tennessee's battle over those legal fees continues.

AG wants disclosure of costs in gay marriage case

In November, lawyers who worked on behalf of the same-sex couples filed a motion asking a judge for $2.3 million for their work. U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger will determine the amount of fees the lawyers should receive.

Detailed breakdowns of their hours worked on the case were sealed, meaning they were not available for public review.

Slatery's response was also filed under seal, alongside a motion to make the hours-worked details public record. The lawyers for the couples responded by saying, essentially, we'll unseal if you will too, and now all the documents are public.

The lawyers who worked for the same-sex couples note in court filings they're already giving the state a $1 million discount by not charging for more than 400 additional hours of work. They say though lawyers in other states were paid less, each received nearly all of or more than they asked for.

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But in Tennessee, the state wants to only pay them less than half they are asking for, the lawyers argue. They note in filings that the Tennessee and Michigan legal teams were responsible for the Supreme Court argument, at additional cost.

They also refute the state's claims that there were too many attorneys on the case, and say the legal force was necessary because the state continued to defend the ban.

"But having decided to vigorously defend at every stage Tennessee’s Anti-Recognition laws, it is not permissible for defendants to attempt, after losing their argument, to staff the plaintiffs’ team of attorneys to their liking," a filing reads.

Second anti same-sex marriage lawsuit filed in Tennessee

Reach Stacey Barchenger at 615-726-8968 or on Twitter @sbarchenger.