A federal judge Wednesday ordered the state of Alaska to pay almost $128,000 in attorney fees and expenses to plaintiffs in the same-sex marriage lawsuit the state lost in October.
The award is roughly half of what attorneys for the plaintiffs sought. Soon after U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess ruled Alaska's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, the plaintiffs appealed to the court to recover attorney fees and expenses, asking for about $258,000. The state, in court documents, called the sum "excessive and not reasonable."
The money, the plaintiffs said, included payment for 788 hours of work by four attorneys and legal support staff. Their hourly rates ranged from $125 to $425.
Burgess ruled a reasonable hourly rate ranged from $125 to $375 for the four attorneys and paralegal staff. He deducted 25 percent from the hours the plaintiffs worked.
According to the Department of Law, the state spent about 670 hours to defend Hamby v. Parnell at a cost of $103,231.78 through the end of October. That included $92,621.43 in attorney and paralegal fees and $9,600 for outside counsel.
The plaintiffs' attorney, Allison Mendel, said in an interview Wednesday their legal team agreed to work the case at no charge and that there was a "high risk" they might never be compensated.
She said she did not have a chance to thoroughly review Burgess' order by Wednesday afternoon but was not inclined to fight for the full $258,000. Overall, she said, she was grateful for the way the case went.
"I think that it's historic and we're out there with a whole battalion of other people pursuing the same thing," Mendel said.
A spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Law did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Alaska joined 14 states in encouraging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold same-sex marriage bans across the country.