In Montanez v. Simon, 755 F.3d 547 (7th Cir. 2014), a civil rights case, the plaintiff won a $2,000 verdict against a Chicago policeman for excessive use of force. The fee ultimately approved by the court for his lawyer? $109,000, reports Michael D. Bersani in the latest ISBA Local Government Law newsletter.

An outrageous aberration? Not so much, Bersani writes. The case "reflects the accepted notion in the seventh circuit that there is no strict proportionality rule when it comes to the application of fee shifting statutes," he said. The court also called out the “scorched earth defense strategy” that drove up the price tag. “This simple civil rights claim, overlitigated by both sides, took on all the protracted complexity of high stakes commercial litigation, replete with hard fought discovery battles and a mock trial,” the seventh circuit opined. Read the article.