Rechter: advocaten verdienden onethisch veel aan MSA
De advocaten die de staten bijstonden tijdens het Master Settlemet Agreement hebben onethisch veel geld daarvoor ontvangen, zegt een New Yorkse rechter. Berekingen tonen aan dat, omgerekend, de advocaten zo’n slordige $13.000 per uur voor hun diensten kregen toegeschoven.
The dispute may become intensely political in New York where legislative leaders are hoping to sell some bonds backed by New York’s share of the settlement — $25.5 billion — to help narrow the state’s budget deficit. Questioning any aspect of the settlement, which resolved claims by the states for costs of health care for those suffering from smoking-related illnesses, could make the bonds less attractive to investors.
The New York justice, Charles E. Ramos of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, called the fees “potentially excessive and therefore unethical” in court documents this fall and in January.
