Lawyers for more than 620 cities and counties have asked a federal appeals court to overturn a district judge’s order that requires 7.5% of their opioid settlements go toward attorney fees for lead plaintiffs’ counsel in the multidistrict litigation.
U.S. District Judge Dan Polster’s May 9 order, which would provide common benefit fees to the plaintiffs’ executive committee, is “a clear usurpation of power,” wrote lawyers for the cities and counties in a May 26 petition for writ of mandamus before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
