A Lincoln County judge has ruled that the law firm of Greensfelder, Hemker, & Gale of St. Louis will be awarded $4.8 million in attorney’s fees and expenses in the case of Zweig, et. al. vs. MSD – double the law firm’s fees.
A Lincoln County judge has ruled that the law firm of Greensfelder, Hemker, & Gale of St. Louis will be awarded $4.8 million in attorney’s fees and expenses in the case of Zweig, et. al. vs. MSD – double the law firm’s fees. The step to double the fees as requested by Greensfelder is unprecedented under Missouri law. Zweig, et. al. vs. MSD is a class action lawsuit that was filed over the validity of MSD’s impervious based stormwater user charge, which was implemented in March 2008. In July 2010, a Lincoln County judge ruled that the user charge was invalid. The July 2010 ruling forced MSD to suspend the stormwater user charge and reinstate a previous system of flat charges and property taxing districts to pay for stormwater service. MSD also had to cut $15.5 million in stormwater services and projects from the current budget. Due to how the taxing districts were previously established, customers inside of I-270 will receive very basic stormwater services, while customers outside of I-270 will receive virtually no stormwater service other than those services that are required by state and federal regulations. Additionally, funding for stormwater projects such as new stormwater sewers, erosion control, and the like, will no longer be available after June 2012. These cuts were announced by MSD on October 15, 2010. In October 2010, a hearing was held on if a refund of stormwater user charges collected since March 2008 should be made. The judge decided in November 2010 that a refund was not warranted. MSD filed an appeal of the judge’s July decision in December 2010. In response to the decision to double the award of legal fees incurred by the Greensfelder law firm, MSD issues the following statement: ” It is disappointing that the ruling awards the Greensfelder law firm a windfall of double what their fees were to file and litigate the lawsuit. The request by Greensfelder to double their fees, which MSD believes were already excessive, underscores that this case has been more about money than it has been about the public good. The end result will be that the public continues to suffer from inequitable and insufficient stormwater services, while the lawyers reap an unprecedented multi-million dollar windfall. It is important to keep in mind that MSD is two utilities under one umbrella – a wastewater utility and a stormwater utility. Thus, wastewater rates must pay for wastewater service and stormwater rates must pay for stormwater services. With that in mind, MSD implemented the impervious based stormwater user charge in March 2008. The reasons for the charge were three fold. First, to allow stormwater funding that charges the same rate to all MSD customers and provides a uniform level of service through out the District. Second, to provide for new and enhanced stormwater services that are desperately needed by many in our St. Louis community. Third, to structure all funding in a manner that allows MSD to meet regulatory requirements for stormwater, without interfering with MSD’s efforts to meet regulatory requirements for wastewater. MSD’s ability to establish user charges is well established and was extensively litigated in the 1990s. Furthermore, MSD went to great lengths to satisfy all legal requirements for the establishment of a stormwater user charge, including review and approval of the user charge by MSD’s voter approved Rate Commission. While MSD respects the judge’s orders in this case, MSD fundamentally disagrees with the unprecedented doubling of fees. The awarding of this windfall only serves to emphasize the many reasons for appealing the July ruling.”