Attorneys want Hazleton to pay fees (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

By Milan Simonich
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Thirty-seven attorneys who helped in a lawsuit that toppled immigration ordinances in Hazleton now want the small Luzerne County city to pay their fees, which total almost $2.4 million.

Thomas Wilkinson Jr., one of the lawyers who brought the lawsuit against Hazleton, said the case involved civil rights, so the winning attorneys are entitled under federal law to seek payment from Hazleton for their time and expenses.

Hazleton, in northeastern Pennsylvania, has an annual budget of just $7.5 million and could never pay such a bill, Mayor Louis Barletta said.

"Their request is absurd," Mr. Barletta said in an interview yesterday. "O.J. Simpson didn't have 37 lawyers."

Mr. Wilkinson's firm, Cozen O'Connor of Philadelphia, worked for free in representing people who sued Hazleton over its ordinances targeting illegal immigrants.

In a court filing, Mr. Wilkinson said he alone is entitled to more than $274,000 from Hazleton. He calculated that he spent 669 hours on the case and would have billed at $410 an hour.

His firm estimated that Hazleton owes it about $1.1 million. If Cozen O'Connor recovered the money, it would donate "a substantial portion" to a fund for those in need of legal assistance, Mr. Wilkinson said.

Vic Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, is seeking more than $324,000 from Hazleton. Mr. Walczak, a Pittsburgh lawyer and lead counsel for those opposing the Hazleton ordinances, said he spent 810 hours on the case and is entitled to $400 an hour.

Mr. Barletta said Hazleton has 10 days to file a response to the opposing lawyers' request for payment.

"We're going to fight them, of course," Mr. Barletta said. "This is their way of trying to get us to back down on the immigration issue, and that's not going to happen."

Hazleton is appealing U.S. District Judge James Munley's ruling that its immigration ordinances were unconstitutional.

Because of the appeal, Judge Munley could delay any decision on whether the city should pay the legal fees of opposing lawyers.

One Hazleton ordinance would have required every renter to obtain a residency permit at city hall. The idea was to keep illegal immigrants from locating in Hazleton, Mr. Barletta said.

The second ordinance would have punished businesses that hired illegal immigrants and landlords that rented to them.

After a three-week trial, Judge Munley ruled in July that immigration law is the responsibility of the federal government, not a city such as Hazleton. He struck down both ordinances.

Mr. Barletta, though, said Hazleton's ordinances would have complemented federal law, not clashed with it.

Part of Hazleton's appeal is being built around the fact that Judge Munley allowed four illegal immigrants to anonymously sue the city. The judge kept their identities a secret because he said the emotional nature of the case could have subjected them to danger or deportation.

Mr. Barletta says illegal immigrants are responsible for increases in violent crimes, street gangs and crowded schools. Hazleton, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, has a population of 22,000. But Mr. Barletta said the city has more than 30,000 residents, and that a sizable portion of them are in the country illegally.

Hazleton's appeal of the ruling will be heard by a panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.