Lawyers get $7M payday after years of legal effort

By David Pitt Associated Press writer

Posted October 25, 2013 2:11 PM

DES MOINES, Iowa — A judge awarded $7 million in fees to attorneys who represented a woman in a lawsuit against the city of Des Moines for charging improper franchise fees. Thursday’s ruling by Judge Joel Novak was less than half of the $15 million sought by attorneys Brian Stoltze, Brad Schroeder and Steve Brick. Novak complimented the men and credited them with working in excess of 10,000 hours on the case and risking losing millions of dollars in compensation for that time. However, he concluded since …

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