The government of Guam agreed to pay off about $740,000 in monthly installments to attorneys who represented taxpayers in a case that resulted in a court-ordered deadline to pay out tax refunds, according to a stipulation filed in federal court Friday.
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Government of Guam’s attorneys, Kathleen V. Fisher and Genevieve P. Rapadas, signed the stipulation which detailed how much and when the government will pay attorneys Ignacio C. Aguigui, Daniel C. Girard and David Stein.
Aguigui, Girard and Stein represented taxpayers who sued GovGuam in 2011 in response to decades of delayed tax refund payments. The case was first raised in District Court of Guam but when U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall imposed a federal injunction siding with the plaintiffs, the government appealed the ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided in June this year that it would not entertain GovGuam’s petition challenging Marshall’s injunction.
Over $1.7 million has already been paid to Aguigui, Girard and Stein for attorneys’ fees in the case.
The court in September ordered GovGuam to pay another $466,555.58 for lawyers’ fees.
If a federal judge approves the stipulation, the court will order the government to make its first payment of $435,000 by Dec. 9.
This leaves a $304,915.46 balance to be paid in installments over the next four months, the stipulation states.
If GovGuam does not make the payments in full by the specified due dates, then Aguigui, Girard and Stein can file a request with the court to force GovGuam to pay, according to the stipulation.
Aguigui, Girard and Stein agreed not to seek any reimbursements from Sept. 1 until a judgement is entered, which includes any fees for the work they did for the stipulation.
The stipulation is binding to all parties including the defendants’ successors. [/restrict]