It might only upset them, or perhaps upset other lawyers:

The judge in a 2004 federal class action lawsuit over fuel gauge damage caused by tainted gasoline made at Shell-Motiva refinery in Norco has sealed records on how he divided $6.8 million in legal fees among 79 lawyers in the case.

U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle has ordered each lawyer, on pain of being sanctioned, not to reveal how much they were paid.

Lemelle’s late January decision to keep the information under wraps has drawn criticism from some of the lawyers and has attracted the attention of Loyola Law School ethics professor Dane Ciolino.

Ciolino says the situation violates the right of the lawyers and the public to have access to court records. Additionally, he said, it flies in the face of a Louisiana attorney ethics rule that says a client is entitled to know how his lawyer shares fees with other lawyers.

(Susan Finch, “Judge seals records on legal fees in suit”, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Apr. 6)(& welcome Robert Ambrogi readers).

Update: And now it’s reported that the judge has turned down a motion to unseal the fee records (Susan Finch, “Judge won’t unseal fee records”, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Apr. 10). Further updates: May 22 (WSJ editorial covers); Jun. 7 (judge unseals records).

Filed under: class actions, Louisiana