Comments on: $850 million Minnesota 3M settlement https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/03/850-million-minnesota-3m-settlement/ Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Mon, 12 Mar 2018 16:00:46 +0000 hourly 1 By: David C https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/03/850-million-minnesota-3m-settlement/comment-page-1/#comment-348183 Mon, 12 Mar 2018 16:00:46 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=69348#comment-348183 In reply to Boblipton.

Considering that it’s a water contamination case, directing it towards a particular geographical area makes sense – people halfway across the state didn’t have their water contaminated.

The Minnesota constitution says: “No money shall be paid out of the treasury of this state except in pursuance of an appropriation by law.” If the settlement is somehow being structured to avoid this (I guess they’re paying money to a fund that isn’t part of “the treasury” even though “a clean water fund and a sustainable drinking water account” are part of the treasury) then it’s violating the spirit of the constitution, if not the letter.

$125 million for the attorneys is ridiculous, by the way. Yes, it was an 8 year lawsuit on the verge of trial, but that’s still way too much. Did they have a hundred attorneys working on this full-time for the full 8 years, each pulling down $156,250 per year? That’s what it would take to get to that number.

]]> By: Boblipton https://www.overlawyered.com/2018/03/850-million-minnesota-3m-settlement/comment-page-1/#comment-348174 Sun, 11 Mar 2018 03:53:21 +0000 https://www.overlawyered.com/?p=69348#comment-348174 “State Rep. Sarah Anderson, R-Plymouth, said she shares other lawmakers’ concerns that the settlement money “we have left isn’t consumed by bureaucracy and it actually goes out to people in the east metro who’ve been impacted by this.”

How many members of the legislature reside in the east metro area? Or are they thinking of moving there?

Bob

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