The District of Columbia has been ordered to pay more than $1 million in attorneys’fees for attorneys who worked to overturn the District’s handgun ban. This was viewed as a victory for the city, although lawyers for the city are reviewing the 65-page opinion whether they will appeal the decision or not.
Plaintiff, Dick Heller, sued the city in 2003 over its ban in gun ownership, and the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the ban in June 2008, on the notion that the ban violated the Second Amendment – the right to own firearms. In brief, the decision required the application of a registration system for handgun owners. Mr. Heller requested District Court Judge, Emmet G. Sullivan, order the city to pay legal fees of over $3 million. The Attorney General, Irvin B. Nathan, argued the city should only be required to pay approximately $840,000.
The District Court was sensitive, yet sympathetic, to the request for attorneys fees – as it was aware that the attorneys fees paid would ultimately be paid by the taxpayers. Thus, the Court was faced with the decision of what would be considered not only fair, but also reasonable and necessary as compensation for legal fees of Mr. Heller. What made the determination of attorneys fees even more difficult was the fact that three (3) of the six (6) attorneys in the case were employed by nonprofit groups. Further, the remaining attorneys charged lower rates for the plaintiffs in order to cater to clients who could not otherwise afford the legal fees.
Plaintiff Heller’s attorneys said they “respectfully disagree with Judge Sullivan’s determination of the hourly rates at which fees should be calculated in this case” and have not offered any insight as to whether they intend to appeal any aspect of Judge Sullivan’s ruling.