STIPULATION & [PROPOSED] ORDER REGARDING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR ATTORNEYS' FEES AND EXPENSES & SERVICE AWARDS

CLAUDIA WILKEN, District Judge.

Plaintiffs and Defendant Department of the Army ("Army") jointly stipulate, subject to the Court's approval, as follows in order to resolve Plaintiffs' Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Expenses (ECF No. 603) and Bill of Costs (ECF No. 604), and to provide for service awards for the named individual Plaintiffs:

WHEREAS, pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, a court shall award attorneys' fees, costs, and other expenses to a prevailing party in a civil action brought against a United States agency, unless the court finds that the position of the government was substantially justified or that special circumstances make an award unjust. 28 U.S.C. § 2412(d)(1)(A).

WHEREAS, on November 19, 2013, the Court entered a Notice Injunction against the Army (ECF No. 546), on April 4, 2017, the Court entered a Medical Care Injunction against the Army (ECF No. 597), and on April 19, 2017, the Court entered an Amended Judgment in favor of Plaintiffs for their Notice and Medical Care claims (ECF No. 598).

WHEREAS, pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act, Plaintiffs filed a timely Motion Applying for Attorneys' Fees and Expenses on July 18, 2017 (ECF No. 603), which included a Declaration in support attaching time entries from Morrison & Foerster's billing software that reflect hours recorded working on this case, and a timely Bill of Costs (ECF No. 604) with attached supporting exhibits.

WHEREAS, Plaintiffs' Counsel posted these court filings regarding Plaintiffs' Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Expenses to the case website http://edgewoodtestvets.org/for class members shortly after the documents were filed last July.

WHEREAS, pursuant to the Court's July 17, 2017 Order (ECF No. 602), counsel for the parties have been extensively negotiating at arm's-length the issues of attorneys' fees, costs, and service awards since June 1, 2017, in an attempt to reach a fair and reasonable compromise and reduce the burden on the Court by avoiding litigating these issues.

WHEREAS, Plaintiffs have submitted a Supplemental Brief, contemporaneously filed herewith, which further supports its request for fees, costs, and service awards for the named Plaintiffs.

WHEREAS, in light of the settlement reflected in this stipulation, Defendants do not accept any representation of fact or concede any point of law in Plaintiffs' Supplemental Brief and reserve the right to respond to the motion and supporting briefs in the event this settlement is not approved as submitted.

WHEREAS, compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local tax requirements shall be the sole responsibility of Plaintiffs. This stipulation is executed without reliance upon any representation by Defendants as to tax consequences, and Plaintiffs are responsible for the payment of all taxes that may be associated with the settlement payments. Further, nothing in this Stipulation waives or modifies federal, state, or local law pertaining to taxes, offsets, levies, and liens that may apply to this stipulation or the settlement proceeds, and this stipulation is executed without reliance on any representation by Defendants as to the application of any such law.

WHEREAS, this stipulation has no impact on the injunctions, judgment, and relief ordered by the Court in the above-captioned matter, or on any actual or potential claims that were brought or could have been brought by Plaintiffs in the above-captioned matter (except for the claim for attorneys' fees, costs, litigation expenses, and service awards as described herein), or on Plaintiffs' right to seek Congressional relief.

THEREFORE, the Army has agreed to pay and Plaintiffs have agreed to accept, subject to the Court's approval, in full and complete satisfaction of Plaintiffs' claim for attorneys' fees, costs, litigation expenses, and service awards in the above-captioned matter, incurred as of the date this stipulation is filed, the following: $3,400,000 for fees and costs to Plaintiffs' Counsel Morrison & Foerster LLP, and $160,000 total for payment of class representative service awards to be divided equally among the eight named individual Plaintiffs, Bruce Price, Franklin D. Rochelle, Eric P. Muth, David C. Dufrane, Tim Michael Josephs, and William Blazinski, and the heirs of the two deceased Plaintiffs, Wray Forrest and Larry Meirow. These amounts are inclusive of any interest.

THEREFORE, Plaintiffs hereby release and forever discharge Defendants and their successors, the United States of America, and any department, agency, or establishment of the United States, and any officers, employees, agents, successors, or assigns of such department, agency, or establishment, from any and all past, present, or future claims for attorneys' fees, costs, litigation expenses, and service awards incurred as of the date this stipulation is filed in connection with the above-captioned litigation. In making this payment, no party is making an admission of liability or fault to any other party, and nothing herein shall be construed as an admission of liability or fault. This stipulation shall not be used in any manner to establish liability for fees, amounts, or hourly rates in any other case or proceeding, nor as an indication that Defendants' position or conduct in this litigation lacked substantial justification or otherwise was inappropriate.

ACCORDINGLY, in order to finalize this proposed settlement of Plaintiffs' Motion Applying for Attorneys' Fees and Expenses and Bill of Costs, the parties jointly request as follows:

1. That the Court approve the proposed settlement of fees, costs, and service awards, and therefore, award fees and costs to Plaintiffs' Counsel Morrison & Foerster LLP in the amount of $3,400,000, and award $160,000 total for class representative service awards to the individual named Plaintiffs, to be divided evenly among Bruce Price, Franklin D. Rochelle, Eric P. Muth, David C. Dufrane, Tim Michael Josephs, and William Blazinski, and the heirs of the two deceased Plaintiffs, Wray Forrest and Larry Meirow. These amounts are inclusive of any interest.

2. Within 30 days of the date of this Stipulation, Plaintiffs' Counsel and the Plaintiffs receiving service awards will provide to Defendant's counsel any information and document(s) needed to process payment (e.g., IRS W-9 forms, social security numbers of the individuals receiving payments, and bank account information). The parties will confer regarding the logistics of payments, such as whether the government will mail checks or issue electronic money transfers.

3. Defendant shall make a good-faith effort to provide for payment to be made to Plaintiffs' Counsel Morrison & Foerster LLP and the eight named individual Plaintiffs, within ninety (90) days from the date of this Stipulation.

PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED.