ADF attorneys seek award of legal fees after win in San Francisco same-sex 'marriage' license case

SAN FRANCISCO — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed a motion for attorneys’ fees with the California Supreme Court today, seeking to recoup costs incurred in its successful lawsuit against the county clerk of San Francisco.

The court ruled August 12 that Mayor Gavin Newsom and County Clerk Nancy Alfaro exceeded their legal authority in issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in February and also ruled that the licenses are invalid.

"As an elected public official, Mayor Newsom should have obeyed the law. If he had done so, this legal action would have been entirely unnecessary," said ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence, who argued the case Lewis v. Alfaro before the California Supreme Court May 25.

The motion for fees filed today states that the petitioners in the case "benefited all California citizens by ensuring that public officials may not disregard the law based on their own opinion of the constitution."

On October 15, a California Superior Court judge allowed ADF attorneys representing the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund to move forward with a separate case against the City and County of San Francisco in an effort to defend California’s marriage laws in state court.

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.