Larry Walther

Summary

The supplied opinion is a dissent arguing that sovereign immunity barred the attorney-fee award because the fees exposed the state treasury to financial liability and the State had not waived immunity. It also contends that the majority improperly departed from the prior characterization of the funds as tax-derived and implicating the state treasury, leaving ownership of the funds unresolved. Justice Womack, dissenting separately, would deny fees because the alleged contingency-fee agreement was oral and therefore unenforceable.