U.S. Supreme Court
Jul. 27, 2011
Video game groups seek legal fees from state
Two video game trade associations that convinced the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn California's ban on violent video games want the state to pay their $1.14 million legal bill following that victory.
Daily Journal Staff Writer
WASHINGTON - Two trade associations that convinced the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn California's ban on violent video games want the state to pay their $1.14 million legal bill.
California has already paid the groups $276,000 for litigation at the district court level and another $94,000 for proceedings at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. However, it is unusual for a victorious party to ask the Supreme Court to force a losing party to pay its costs.
"From the start of this misguided legislation, then-Gov. [Arnold] Schwarzenegger and specific California legislators knew that their efforts to censor and restrict expression were, as court after court ruled, unconstitutional and thus a waste of taxpayers' money, government time and state resources," Michael D. Gallagher, head of the Entertainment Software Association, said in a news release.
California attorney general spokeswoman Lynda Gedhill declined to comment.
The software association said it previously recouped $1.8 million from Louisiana, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Illinois, Washington state, Michigan, St. Louis and Indianapolis after courts tossed their laws regulating video games.
The industry motion, filed Friday, provides a peek inside the accounting ledger to reveal the money spent and hours worked to win one of the term's most important free speech cases.
In a June 27 decision, the court struck down California's law restricting minors' access to violent video games and found video games deserve First Amendment protection. The California Legislature passed the video game law in 2005, but the legal challenge prevented it from taking effect. Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, 08-1448.
The Entertainment Merchants Association and the Entertainment Software Association's primary expense in securing their victory was its nine-lawyer legal team from Jenner & Block LLP. The attorneys billed some 2,100 hours on the case, generating $1.07 million in fees, according to the motion.
Partner Paul M. Smith, who argued at the high court, cost $245,000 for the 332 hours he billed. The three junior partners working on the case averaged $185,000 in fees and 370 hours billed. The team also included three associates, an of counsel and a partner who worked short hours as an advisor.
Other outlays listed in the motion include $24,000 for three high-powered Supreme Court advocates to review briefings and participate in moot court preparation. That advisory lineup featured former solicitors general Theodore B. Olson of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Paul D. Clement of Bancroft PLLC, as well as Lee Levine, a First Amendment specialist at Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz LLP.
The industry groups are also asking $39,000 for out-of-pocket expenses, most of which stem from legal research, photocopying, printing and filing costs. href="mailto:
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Robert Iafolla
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