Lawyers who win public-interest lawsuits are entitled to payment, California Supreme Court rules

November 24, 2008

Attorneys who prevail in lawsuits brought in the public interest are entitled to compensation for their work, the California Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision Thursday.

Both liberal and conservative lawyers had urged the state high court to award fees to three law firms whose attorneys spent years trying to get the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to require private employers of prison labor to pay wages comparable to non-inmate workers’ wages.

The Prison Inmate Labor Initiative of 1990 created the comparable-wages requirement to prevent the use of prisoners as strikebreakers or to undercut law-abiding workers. The initiative also was intended to maximize prisoner earnings, about 80% of which the state collects for taxes, room and board and victim restitution and to support family members outside.

Read Article: Los Angeles Times

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney