Tag: Anthony Majestro

Residents to Get Share of $73 Million from Water Crisis Settlement

People affected by a 2014 chemical spill into a West Virginia river will soon receive their first batch of settlement checks from a class-action lawsuit.

U.S. District Court Judge John Copenhaver approved the distribution of the $73 million to nearly 200,000 residents and businesses.

Anthony Majestro is a lawyer for the residents and says the checks will go in the mail on Sept. 14 or Sept. 17. They’ll include an additional $1 million from former Freedom Industries President Gary Southern.

The residents and businesses sued after a chemical known as Crude MCHM spilled from a storage tank at Freedom Industries into the Elk River. It was upriver from a water plant in Charleston and people were told not to drink or clean with the water for days.

Attorneys to Challenge Rates in Court-Appointed Cases

A Charleston attorney has notified state officials he will challenge guidelines that would cut the amount lawyers are paid for their time in court-appointed cases.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports Anthony Majestro sent the notice December 23 on behalf of attorneys and law firms that take court-appointed cases.

Majestro says he will file a petition for a writ of mandamus with the West Virginia Supreme Court against the state’s Public Defender Services. The petition will argue that the current pay rate is too low and will ask the court to stop the guidelines from taking effect Jan. 18.

Under the guidelines, attorneys will no longer be reimbursed for mileage and will be compensated $20 an hour for travel time. Time spent “waiting in court” also has been more narrowly defined.

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