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Portland attorney Lake Perriguey, at left, speaks at a press conference outside the federal courthouse in Eugene this spring after a hearing on Oregon's gay rights case. To his left is co-counsel Lea Ann Easton. Directly to the right of him are three lawyers, Misha Isaak, Jennifer Middleton and Tom Johnson, who represented a second set of plaintiffs.
(Photo by Alicia J. Rose)
The attorneys representing one group of plaintiffs in Oregon's landmark gay marriage case will receive $133,657 in legal fees and court costs from state taxpayers, according to an agreement approved by U.S. District Judge Michael McShane this week.
Attorneys working with the American Civil Liberties Union who represented another set of plaintiffs in the legal action -- which led to McShane's May 19 ruling allowing same-sex couples to marry in Oregon -- have also reached an agreement with the Oregon attorney general's office on fees.
But that agreement has not yet finalized and the amount of the fees to be paid by state has not yet been released.
Under federal law, prevailing parties in civil rights cases can seek attorney fees to cover the costs. The intent of the law to help provide access to the courts for those seeking to uphold civil rights statutes.
The settlement approved by McShane provides $75,000 in legal fees for Portland lawyer Lake Perriguey, who filed the first lawsuit challenging Oregon's voter-approved constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. His co-counsel, Lea Ann Easton, will receive $51,390 and a third attorney in the case, Sage Teton, will receive $6,300. The attorneys originally sought about $185,000 in legal fees and court costs.
A second lawsuit was also filed against the state on behalf of two other same-sex couples as well as the Basic Rights Education Fund. McShane consolidated the two cases in January and Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced in February that the state also agreed the ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional.
Thomas Johnson, one of the attorneys who represented the second set of plaintiffs, said an agreement on fees has been reached with the state but has not yet been finalized. Legal fees received from the state for the second set of plaintiffs will go to the American Civil Liberties Union, he said.
Johnson, who is an attorney at Perkins Coie, did not release the fee amount included in the settlement. But he said that Perkins Coie calculates that it donated more than $200,000 in legal work on the case.
Perkins Coie is one of several large law firms around the country that played a major role in bringing lawsuits in the last year challenging state bans on same-sex marriage. A Reuters story from June said that 30 of the nation's 200 largest law firms had become involved in gay-marriage litigation.
-- Jeff Mapes