04-24-2023 City Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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11 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 any payment from the Backstop Funds shall be transparent, public, final, and not appealable. I.Distribution of Any Excess Funds . To the extent the special master determines that the Backstop Fund exceeds the amount necessary for payment to Counsel, the special master shall distribute any excess amount to Participating Local Governments according to the percentages set forth in Exhibit B. J.Term . The Backstop Fund will be administered for (a) the length of the National Litigation Settlement Agreements’ payments; or (b) until all Counsel for Litigating Local Governments have either (i) received payments equal to the Backstop Fund Payment Cap above or (ii) received the full amount determined by the special master; whichever occurs first. K.No State Funds Toward Attorney Fees . For the avoidance of doubt, no portion of the State Abatement Fund will be used to fund the Backstop Fund or in any other way to fund any Litigating Local Government’s attorney fees and expenses. Any funds that the State receives from the National Settlement Agreements as attorney fees and costs or in lieu of attorney fees and costs, including the Additional Restitution Amounts, will be treated as State Abatement Funds. DocuSign Envelope ID: 040056EC-0D41-4D98-9C65-E01AE876A6AB