Virginia lawyers are paid $520K in same-sex marriage case

A six-figure sum of $520,000 will be paid to the lawyers of two same-sex couples who successfully contested Virginia’s gay marriage ban. The settlement agreement was filed Thursday in Norfolk. The attorneys had sought more than $1.7 million. The law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher will receive $459,000. Shuttleworth, Ruloff, Swain, Haddad & Morecock $61,000. The attorneys involved had logged a total of 2,372 hours on the case. Virginia’s Department of Treasury’s Division of Risk Management will be paying their fees directly. Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban was declared unconstitutional February 2014 by U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen. A federal appeals court endorsed the decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to further review the case.