Attorneys in a long-running school desegregation lawsuit asked a federal judge Monday to approve a negotiated $1.4 million payment for legal work done on behalf of the Joshua intervenors, who represent black families in the case.
If approved by U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr., the legal fees and costs would be paid by the Pulaski County Special School District for work the Joshua attorneys did in the case between July 1, 2012, and May 31, 2016.
The negotiated agreement is short of the $1,722,930.30 that the Joshua attorneys sought for a total of 13,460.59 hours of work and expenses recorded by three attorneys -- including Rep. John Walker, who charges $450 an hour -- and a team of paralegals/desegregation monitors.
The agreed-upon $1.4 million payment would be, in part, for the Joshua legal team's advocacy for their clients in regard to school construction in both the Pulaski County Special and the new Jacksonville/North Pulaski school districts, and for the establishment of the Donaldson Academy, which is a high school college-preparatory program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Philander Smith College.
The filing of the joint motion by attorneys for the Joshua intervenors, the Pulaski County Special district and the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district follows a Wednesday settlement conference on the legal fees conducted by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerome Kearney, at Marshall's direction.
In Monday's motion for approval, Walker and Pulaski County Special attorney Allen Roberts of Camden described for Marshall the course of events leading to the agreement.
"Joshua pointed out to [Pulaski County Special]earlier this year that nearly four years had passed since Joshua had been compensated for its services and expenses," the attorneys wrote in the joint motion. "Joshua and [Pulaski County Special] agreed to negotiate. The first figures mentioned were $1,850,000 [by Joshua] and $1,000,000 [by Pulaski County Special].
"While negotiations continued into July 2016, they occurred for the most part prior to Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District's official detachment [from Pulaski Special] on July 1, 2016. Negotiations were handled between [Pulaski County Special] and Joshua, with [Pulaski County Special] keeping [Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District] informed of the status. In early July, [Pulaski County Special] and Joshua reached an impasse," the attorneys wrote.
On July 19, Marshall granted the parties' joint request that the legal-fee dispute be referred to a magistrate judge for a settlement conference. That conference was held last week and was successful in that the attorneys for the different parties reached the agreement. Marshall was informed of that result.
"The parties submit this joint motion so the record will be complete with respect to fees for the period at issue," Allen and Walker wrote Monday.
The attorneys also wrote that "the law favors resolution of fee issues by settlement. In addition, resolution of this matter by settlement will avoid the need for extensive additional work by counsel and the Court."
About 200 pages of attachments to the motion for the fee agreement show that Walker recorded 1,408.37 hours of work in the case since 2012. At his hourly rate, his total fee request -- absent the proposed settlement -- would be $633,766.50.
Walker's associate Robert Pressman of Lexington, Mass., also an attorney, worked 324.80 hours at an hourly rate of $350 an hour, equaling $113,680. Austin Porter, another attorney, worked an estimated 70 hours in the case at a rate of $325 an hour, equaling $22,750, according to the supporting documents sent to the judge.
Joy Springer, a paralegal for the Walker law firm, recorded 1,745.92 hours for the period of July 1, 2012, through May 31, 2016, at a rate of $140 an hour, totaling a potential cost of $244,428.80. A team of desegregation monitors, including Charles Bolden, Crystal Okoro-Ashley and Marva Walker-Smith, worked a total of 9,911.5 hours, which at a rate of $70 an hour would total $693,805 for the four years.
The recorded fees total $1,708,430.30, according to the documents. The Joshua legal team also recorded $14,500 in travel, copying and postage expenses. Together, the recorded fees and expenses total $1,722,930.30, which exceeds the $1.4 million proposed settlement amount.
Jerry Guess, superintendent of the Pulaski County Special district, on Monday was satisfied with the proposal.
"We agreed to a figure that we have now presented to the judge, and it will be up to Judge Marshall to take the next step," Guess said.
If the agreement is approved by the judge, the Pulaski County Special district will pay the fees and expenses out of its balances, or unspent funds, from the 2015-16 school year. The new Jacksonville/North Pulaski district, however, is also helping to pay the legal fees, Guess said.
That's because the payment would reduce the amount of balances available for Pulaski County Special to split with Jacksonville/North Pulaski as part of the separation of the Jacksonville district from the Pulaski County Special district.
"Since it reduces the balance, it reduces the amount of that balance that Jacksonville would share," Guess said, adding that Jacksonville/North Pulaski will receive about 23 percent of available funds.
Guess said that the Pulaski County Special district last paid the Joshua intervenors' attorneys $875,000 in December 2012 for a period of desegregation-plan monitoring and court challenges.
In addition to paying the attorney fees for the Joshua intervenors, Pulaski County Special pays its own attorneys for its representation in the 33-year old case. Roberts and Whitney Moore of Little Rock, who have become the district's main attorneys in the desegregation case, each earn about $200 an hour, Deborah Roush, a spokesman for the district, said.
Total legal fees paid to Roberts, Moore and Sam Jones, another of the district's attorneys, for their work during the same four-year period covered by the proposed agreement were not immediately available Monday.
Walker on Monday "said it goes without saying" that the attorneys for the district do not go for years at a time without being paid.
Unlike him, they are paid on a regular basis. The fees for the Pulaski County Special district's attorneys also have amounted to millions of dollars over time.
The legal bills are continuing. The Pulaski County Special and Jacksonville/North Pulaski districts continue to be parties in the desegregation case and subject to monitoring by the Joshua intervenors for compliance with the district's desegregation obligations contained in the district's Plan 2000 and subsequent court orders.
The Pulaski Special district has been declared desegregated or unitary in some areas of its operation, but it has not reached unitary status in regard to equitable school buildings, staffing, student discipline and student achievement. The new Jacksonville district must meet the same desegregation obligations as the Pulaski County Special district. That was a condition of its becoming a separate district, apart from the Pulaski County Special district.
Metro on 08/16/2016