A recent Madison Record story, “Tillery Seeks at Least $18K in Fees From Third Party to Litigation – University of Chicago” reports that an attorney who will share close to $35 million in attorney fees by way of a recent class action settlement in federal court, is seeking at least $18,000 in fees from the University of Chicago in related state court litigation.  Stephen Tillery filed a motion for reimbursement of costs and attorney fees in an eight-year-old Madison County, Illinois class action against Syngenta Crop Protection involving the weed killer atazine.

The University of Chicago and its scientist Don Coursey, who was hired as an expert by Syngenta, were brought into the litigation as third parties.  For years, they fought Tillery’s discovery requests.  In a motion, Tillery chided the University for being “uncooperative” by delaying production of subpoenaed documents.  He seeks reimbursement on grounds that the University repeatedly filed motions without substantial justification and for its “significant” delay in conducting a search and compiling responsive documents.

“But for the University’s lack of cooperation and unjustified habitual defiance, it would not have undertaken seven months to compile 952 documents,” Tillery’s motion states.  “[P]laintiffs should not be forced to pay thousands of dollars to cover the University’s irresponsible inaction and delay,” Tillery wrote.  A footnote to the $18,050 in fees Tillery seeks from the University, states that the figure does not include “Mr. Steve Tillery’s time, nor does it include paralegal time.”