Georgia water litigator to get $855 an hour

ATLANTA (AP) - The new attorney handling Georgia’s appeal in the
long-running legal battle with Alabama and Florida over water
rights will be paid $855 an hour.
    Governor Sonny Perdue’s office said Friday that Seth Waxman’s
hourly rate is a 10 percent discount off his normal rate of $950 an
hour.
    Waxman is a former U.S. solicitor general who was tapped this
week to replace Paul Clement after he had to withdraw because of a
possible conflict of interest.
    Waxman is leading the state’s appeal of a federal judge’s ruling
in July that concluded it was illegal for Atlanta to draw drinking
water from Lake Lanier, the city’s main water supply. The judge
gave Georgia and the other states three years to work out a deal
involving the reservoir.