The Kilpatrick Stockton law firm in Washington, D.C., has spent $22 million on the Cobell v. Kempthorne case, The Legal Times reports.

At least 15 lawyers from the firm have worked on the case since it was filed in 1996. One of the first was former U.S. congressman Eliot Levitas, a partner who is still in court arguing over the money owed to hundreds of thousands of individual Indian beneficiaries.

The firm now counts Keith Harper, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, as head of its Native American practice group. Harper started working on the case in 1996, when he was at the Native American Rights Fund.

Now that the case is moving into its final stages, the firm could stand to gain a big share of any payout. The fee arrangement hasn't been disclosed.

Judge James Robertson plans to issue final judgment next month. Appeals by the federal government will likely draw the case out for even longer.

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Kilpatrick Makes Big Bet on Indian Trust Case (The Legal Times 6/23)
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