MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature have signed contracts to pay attorneys representing them in a redistricting lawsuit a flat fee that could reach $175,000.
Documents released Wednesday show that one contract calls for paying attorneys with the law firm Kirkland and Ellis up to that amount for the filing of five briefs in the case that could be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Another agreement calls for paying the firm of Bell Giftos St. John $300 an hour for their legal work.
Taxpayers will foot the bill for the hiring of the attorneys. Taxpayers have already spent more than $2 million to defend legislative maps that a panel of federal court judges ruled were unconstitutional. The judges sided with Democrats who argued the boundaries unfairly discriminated against them.
