O.J.’s “Dream Team” is ready to settle a dispute with another team of lawyers over legal fees from the whopping $8.75 million Abner Louima civil suit.
Lawyers on both sides of the debate agreed to suspend testimony in a contentious legal battle yesterday and consider a settlement minutes before the Haitian immigrant was to take the stand.
Two hours of intense talks resulted in a “prospective settlement,” in which Johnnie Cochran and his partners, Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, sweetened a previous offer of $200,000 to Louima’s original but lesser-known team – Brian Figeroux, Casilda Roper-Simpson and the estate of Carl Thomas, who recently died – according to defense attorney K.C. Okoli, who represents Roper-Simpson.
Lawyers in the case said they could not provide a specific figure under a gag order issued by Brooklyn federal Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollack.
The Dream Team has fought to block Louima’s original legal team from collecting one-third of the $3 million legal fee. The three Brooklyn lawyers claim their more famous colleagues pushed them off the case.
Yesterday’s sudden negotiations followed damaging testimony from Figeroux, who admitted he’d filed a false affidavit in the case.