Judge Slaps Texas With $605K Tab for Fighting Same-Sex Marriage
Discrimination isnt cheap, and Texas is about to learn that the hard way.
U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia on Monday ordered the state to pay more than $605,000 in fees and costs to Akin Gump, the firm that represented two same-sex couples in a marriage lawsuit, DeLeon v. Perry.
The Texas Observer reports:
It was important, at the end of the day, once we prevailed, to require the state to pay something for having made our clients go through this process, Akin Gumps Neel Lane told the Observer. You really need to discourage, where you can, violations of constitutional rights, and the way you do that is you hold the state accountable.
The plaintiffs attorneys had requested more than $735,000 in fees and costs, but the state argued Garcia should award only $383,000.
In his 10-page order, Garcia lowered hourly rates for attorneys who worked on the case, but rejected the states argument that the number of hours billed was excessive. Garcia also praised the plaintiffs attorneys for excellent and commendable skill in prosecuting the case.
Akin Gump represented Cleopatra DeLeon and Nicole Dimetman of Austin, and Mark Phariss and Vic Holmes of Dallas (above). After Judge Garcia struck down the states marriage ban last year, then-Attorney General Greg Abbott appealed to the 5th Circuit, which heard oral arguments in January but didnt rule until after the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.
Read more:
http://www.towleroad.com/2015/12/judge-slaps-texas-605k-tab-fighting-sex-marriage/