Civil Rights
Possible Cravath Legal Bill in Alabama Discrimination Case: $10 Million
Posted Nov 17, 2008, 03:43 pm CST
By Martha Neil
Over the past 25 years, Cravath, Swaine & Moore has been representing plaintiffs in an employment discrimination case against government agencies in Jefferson County, Ala.
During that time, the Jefferson County Personnel Board has made one payment to the white-shoe New York-based law firm. It was for $141,042, as reimbursement for an expert's fees, reports the Birmingham News. That could leave the board and other government agencies owing another $10 million or so in legal fees to Cravath for the law firm's representation of women and minorities.
"The costs of the litigation to the parties are staggering, and mounting, literally, by the hour," writes U.S. District Court Judge Lynwood Smith in a September order.
It could have been worse, though: because the situation has been handled under a consent decree for a number of years, Cravath hasn't spent the entire 25 years litigating the case.