2022-01-12 CC Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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private attorneys must certify that they first sought fees from the National Settlement Agreements’ Contingency Fee Fund, and must certify that they agreed to acceptthe maximum fees payments awarded to them. Nothing in this Section, or in the terms of this Agreement, shall be construed as a waiver of fees, contractual or otherwise, with respect to fees that may be recovered under a contingency fee agreement or otherwise from other past or future settlements, verdicts, or recoveries related to the opioid litigation. F. Special Master. A special master will administer the Backstop Fund, including overseeing any distribution, evaluating the requests of Counselfor payment, and determining the appropriate amount of any payment from the Backstop Fund. The special master will be selected jointly by the Minnesota Attorney General and the Hennepin County Attorney, and will be one of the following individuals: Hon. Jeffrey Keyes, Hon. David Lillehaug; or Hon. Jack Van de North. The special master will be compensated from the Backstop Fund. In the event that a successor special master is needed, the Minnesota Attorney General and the Hennepin County Attorney will jointly select the successor special master from the above-listed individuals. If none of the above-listed individuals is available to serve as the successor special master, then the Minnesota Attorney General and the Hennepin County Attorney will jointly select a successor special master from a list of individuals that is agreed upon between the Minnesota Attorney General, the Hennepin County Attorney, and Counsel. G. Special Master Determinations. The special master will determine the amount and timing of any payment to Counsel from the Backstop Fund. The special master shall make one determination regarding payment of attorney fees to Counsel, which will apply through the term of the recovery from the National Settlement Agreements. In making such determinations, the special master shall consider the amounts that have been or will be received by the private attorney’s firm from the National Settlement Agreements’ Contingency Fee Fund relating to Litigating Local Governments; the contingency fee contracts; the dollar amount of recovery for Counsel’s respective clients who are Litigating Local Governments; the Backstop Fund Payment Cap above; the complexity of the legal issues involved in the opioid litigation; work done to directly benefit the Local Governments within the State of Minnesota; and the principles set forth in the Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct, including the reasonable and contingency fee principles of Rule 1.5. In the interest of transparency, Counsel shall provide information in their initial fee application about the total amount of fees that Counsel have received or will receive from the National Attorney Fee Fund related to the Litigating Local Governments. H. Special Master Proceedings. Counsel seeking payment from the Backstop Fund may also provide written submissions to the special master, which may include declarations from counsel, summaries relating to the factors described above, and/or attestation regarding total payments awarded or anticipated from the National Settlement Agreements’ Contingency Fee Fund. Private attorneys shall not be required to disclose work product, proprietary or confidential information, including but not limited to detailed billing or lodestar records. To the extent that counsel rely upon written submissions to support their application to the special master, the special master will incorporate said submission or summary into the record. Any proceedings before the special master and documents filed with the special master shall be public, and the special master’s determinations regarding 10