Motion for recovery of fees and costs in our case vs BATFE
As the final step in our 9-year successful legal battle to get relief from unjustified regulation of APCP by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), the NAR and TRA filed a motion in U.S. District Court on April 15 to claim $81,498.26 in reimbursement from BATFE for our legal expenses in defeating them in court. This recovery of legal fees was directed by previous court decision due to the arbitrary and capricious nature of the regulatory action that the court overturned. The court decision authorizing this fee recovery placed a number of conditions and limits on the terms of this recovery and our legal team calculated that under those terms the amount we are authorized to be paid (which would be split 50-50 with TRA) was the amount that they filed for. Of course we still have fees to pay for filing this motion, so our real net at the end for the NAR will be maybe $35K.
The next step in the process is for BATFE to file a response to our claim by April 30, then the court decides on the amount we get and the agency must pay it. We will get something.
Once we actually receive the funds, however much they turn out to be, we will begin the process of discussing with our members what should be done with the money. It will not be a large amount, obviously.
Trip Barber
NAR 4322
NAR President