Flint Residents’ Discontent
Flint Residents’ Discontent
Trial attorneys are getting rich off the backs of victims of the Flint Water Crisis and are projected to receive a payout of roughly $200 million in the $626 million settlement.
Meanwhile, victims of the Flint Water Crisis are projected to only receive a maximum of a few thousand dollars each, though most will receive less.
Flint residents are rightfully upset about this miscarriage of justice.
"I'm from Flint. I grew up with flint. This has been an ordeal that I would never have expected would be one that my citizens of Flint would have had to experience. It's very unfortunate. This adds another insult to the whole situation."
"As the claims process for the $626 million settlement for victims of the Flint water crisis continues and Flint residents wait for their awards, a Detroit area federal judge recently granted the payment totalling $47 million in attorney fees and expenses...Some residents have also criticized the size of the attorney fees, saying those costs eat into an already underwhelming settlement award for victims who are still recovering from the man-made disaster... Roughly a dozen Flint residents appealed the judge's ruling on the attorney fees, saying the court used a flawed methodology in assigning the fees. Those appeals were denied this spring by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, with the judges affirming Levy's order."
"The people of Flint have been victimized again, this time by the decision of the federal judge to give their lawyers more than $180 million from the settlement with the State of Michigan. Judge Judith Levy entirely rejected the arguments for lower fees made by experienced and respected national public-interest attorneys representing some individual Flint residents pro bono. Because of that, tens of millions of dollars that should be going toward medical care and other needs of the victims in Flint will be going to lawyers."
"It might be normal, but it's not ethical. It's immoral!... You were fighting for the children? Well, what were you fighting for?!? Because if you take 200-million off the top, what does that leave them?"
"Flint families took 100% of the harm. Flint families should not have a third of the settlement taken from them."
"The settlement to bring #JusticeforFint is 'disrespectful' because out-of-state plaintiff lawyers are raking in millions of dollars on the backs of the people of Flint. Flint needs justice, not a payday for lawyers!"
“... Once people get the money, there won't be any money. The lawyers take 33 and a third of the money. And there's nothing left."
"Now we have the attorneys arguing over whether they're going to get $1 million apiece or $2 million apiece,"
"The sheer number of potential plaintiffs in Flint compared with the relatively small number of lawyers means that lawyers working on the case would come away with substantially more than the people who were most affected."
"First and foremost, money from this settlement should go to Flint children and families who have had their lives forever changed by the decisions made during this crisis — not the out-of-state attorneys who capitalized on this tragic situation. The state must take action to ensure such a disproportionate amount of funds are not awarded to attorneys over residents."
"We still purchase bottled water with our food stamps. Is there rightness or justice in the Flint Water Crisis, because I have yet to see it. It's left me with an anger I can't get rid of."