Texas v. New Mexico
Headline: Allows Special Master’s interim fees and expenses in Texas–New Mexico litigation, authorizing payment to the court-appointed Master while a Justice dissents and urges reductions and clearer billing detail.
Holding: The Court granted the Special Master’s motion allowing interim fees and disbursements in the Texas–New Mexico case, while a dissent argued the requested amounts were excessive and inadequately documented.
- Authorizes payment of the Special Master’s requested interim fees and expenses.
- Highlights calls for clearer billing details and scrutiny when approving masters’ fees.
- Affects the parties in the ongoing Texas–New Mexico litigation by allowing interim compensation.
Summary
Background
Charles J. Meyers, a partner in the Denver office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a former dean of Stanford Law School, was appointed Special Master in the dispute between the State of Texas and the State of New Mexico. He filed a motion for interim fees filed January 11, 1988, seeking $69,661.25 in fees and $2,544.37 in expenses (total $72,205.62), describing most work as performed by him and by Diana Poole, his replacement law clerk.
Reasoning
The Court considered the motion and granted allowance of the interim fees and disbursements. The opinion notes prior interim awards and earlier filings. The text does not provide a detailed majority opinion explaining the Court’s reasoning on the fee amounts; it records only the allowance. Justice Blackmun wrote a dissent criticizing the size of the charges, the lack of detailed information about the attorneys’ experience and hourly rates, and what he described as duplicative background work by the new law clerk.
Real world impact
As allowed, the Special Master will be authorized to receive the interim payment requested, affecting the parties in this long-running interstate litigation. The decision also highlights concerns about how the Court approves compensation for court-appointed officials and the level of accounting required when fees are large. Because this is an interim fee allowance, it is a procedural step in the ongoing case and not a final ruling on the underlying dispute.
Dissents or concurrances
Justice Blackmun would have reduced fees to $50,000 and cut $240 from expenses, complaining about high hourly rates, insufficient billing detail, and the public perception of large fees charged by established law firms.
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