ACLU attorneys appeal reduced attorney fees assessed to Fayette County
Attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union are appealing a judge’s ruling that reduced attorneys’ fees in a civil suit brought against Fayette County Children and Youth Services.
Last month, U.S. Senior Judge Donetta W. Ambrose reduced a request from $448,348 to $242,752.
The request was made on behalf of attorneys Vic Walczak and Sara J. Rose, the ACLU attorneys who sued on behalf of Steven Conway, a father who had his children taken away from him between 2006 and 2008. Earlier this year, a jury awarded Conway’s estate $105,000 in the case, which was tried several months after Conway died in a car accident.
Rose filed the notice of appeal to the 3rd Circuit Court on Wednesday in Western District Court in Pittsburgh.
After Conway’s death in November 2010, the suit continued on behalf of his estate, including the three children who were removed from his custody by CYS workers.
The case was tried before a federal jury in May, and after the verdict was rendered, Conway’s attorneys asked that they be compensated for work done on the case, which was filed in 2008.
For more information, read Friday’s HeraldStandard.com.