A federal judge on Friday approved the settlement of Chicago’s 6 1/2-year-old ward remap case, setting the stage for a final battle over legal fees.
Since city officials and the plaintiffs reached a compromise agreement Sunday that turned the 18th Ward into a so-called super-majority black ward, both sides have continued to bicker over the the merits of the victory.
The issue is critical because the City of Chicago and the bloc of white aldermen who defended the map are required to pay plaintiffs’ fees only to the extent the plaintiffs’ prevailed.
Under the agreement approved by U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo, the city agreed to shift about 15 precincts to alter the 18th Ward, which already had a black majority.
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That adjustment, among other things, places the residence of the 18th’s current alderman, Thomas Murphy, who is white, into the 13th Ward.
But the plaintiffs were unsuccessful in proving intentional discrimination by the city or in winning additional Latino seats, which attorneys for the city and the bloc of white aldermen who defended the map said took up a good portion of the case.
The settlement also did not include two other black seats the plaintiffs had sought.
Judson Miner, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said he had not begun to calculate the thousands of hours billed to the case. But, he said, “Our fees will be enormous.”
Jenner & Block lawyers Jerold Solovy and Joel Pelz said they had no hard total of money spent on behalf of the city but said their fees totaled about $9 million plus, including roughly $2 million in expenses.
But Solovy said much of his firm’s costs were incurred for issues the city prevailed on., such as the Latino ward and intentional discrimination portions of the case.
Ald. Ed Smith (28th), a plaintiff, said, “Our attorneys have the right to be paid, and we insist that they be paid on the same scale as everybody else was paid.”
Miner has 21 days to submit his fees to the city and the city in turn has 21 days to review the cost and decide what it will pay.