MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin taxpayers footed a previously unknown $60,000 bill for an attorney to argue for 10 minutes before the U.S. Supreme Court in the state’s defense of a redistricting lawsuit, records obtained by The Associated Press show. A summary of bills provided by the Republican leaders of the state Senate and Assembly through an open records request shows the law firm of Kirkland and Ellis was paid $60,000 to make the Supreme Court arguments in October. The cost wasn’t included in original contracts signed by Republican legislative leaders in February 2017. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said when the contract was signed it wasn’t known whether Kirkland would appear in court or simply prepare legal briefs. The Legislature asked for time to present its position during oral arguments, which resulted in the $60,000 bill on top of $175,000 paid to the law firm for other work, Fitzgerald spokesman Dan Romportl said. The solicitor general for the Wisconsin Department of Justice had 20 minutes of time to defend the maps in the oral arguments in addition to the 10 minutes given to the attorney from Kirkland and Ellis. The records show that another law firm that did work on the case, Bell Giftos St. John, has been paid $127,414 to date. The Legislature’s contract allowed for its attorneys to be paid $300 an hour with no limit on the total. To date, just on the case before the Supreme Court, attorneys have been paid $362,414, the records show. That’s on top of more than $2.1 million that has been paid to attorneys in other lawsuits and legal work related to the maps.
