Lawyers for NSHCC settlement due back in court today for more fee-approval matter
Posted Oct 6, 2014 06:22:30 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
For the second time in three weeks, the firm representing former residents of the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children will be in court this morning for fee-approval matters.
The lawyers are looking for $6.6-million for their work, and the judge wants to make sure they’ve earned it.
The firm representing the people who were allegedly abused at the Halifax orphanage have been working on the case since 1998, and finally reached a $34-million settlement earlier this year.
Wagners Law Firm said in an email they’ve filed various documents to prove their work, including an affidavit from one of the first former residents to come forward with abuse allegations, Tony Smith.
The email also says 3,000 pages worth of evidence of the firm’s work was submitted to the judge.
The legal fees make up 19.4 per cent of the $34-million.
Lead lawyer Ray Wagner had said that figure is reasonable, considering his firm worked on the case for 16 years without guaranteed payment.
The pay they are asking for works out to about $412,500 per year, since work on the file began in 1998.
The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.
