A Montana district court judge has ordered the state to pay more than $1.3 million in attorneys' fees and costs to the legal teams that successfully challenged Senate Bill 99, the 2023 law that banned gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The fee award follows a ruling that found the law unconstitutional.
The lawsuit was brought by the ACLU of Montana, the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal, and the law firm Ashurst Perkins Coie on behalf of plaintiff Phoebe Cross. The legal team prevailed on the constitutional challenge, and the fee award reflects the court's determination that the plaintiffs were the prevailing party in the case.
The $1.3 million will be paid by Montana taxpayers and comes on top of the state's own legal costs defending the law through litigation. Senate Bill 99 was part of a wave of legislation targeting gender-affirming care for minors that passed through the 2023 Montana Legislature. Its invalidation, and now the fee award attached to that defeat, adds financial consequence to the legal setback for state officials who backed the measure.