At their base, the problems facing the City of Newark looked disturbingly similar to those facing Flint, Michigan: Aging water infrastructure. Elevated lead levels. And a Safe Drinking Water Act lawsuit from formidable legal foes at the National Resources Defense Council.

The outcome, however, was very different. U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in late January signed off on a settlement Newark reached with the NRDC where the city agreed to finish remediation efforts that were already underway or completed. Notably, as part of the deal the NRDC team walked away without getting legal fees paid by the city for their two-and-half years’ work on the case after they were awarded almost $1 million for work on the Flint case. In a statement, NRDC Senior Trial Attorney Jerry Epstein said, “NRDC states that while it was entitled to a significant fee award because the lawsuit resulted in the principal relief it was seeking, it did not seek a fee award due to the unique economic and human toll of the pandemic on Newark.”