San Francisco just handed nearly $3 million to lawyers who sued the city on behalf of homeless people—while the actual homeless plaintiffs walked away with comparative chump change that wouldn’t cover more than a few months’ rent anywhere in the city.
The settlement that Mayor Daniel Lurie signed Thursday to end three years of litigation that was effectively one of the last things hanging over the push for homeless encampment sweeps reveals a jaw-dropping disparity: $2.8 million flows to attorneys representing the Coalition on Homelessness, while the two formerly homeless individuals who were actual plaintiffs in the case receive $11,000 each. That’s less than one percent of the total payout going to the people the lawsuit was supposedly designed to help.
According to City Attorney David Chiu, the agreement officially ends the Coalition on Homelessness v. San Francisco lawsuit while preserving the city’s ability to continue clearing encampments—meaning taxpayers funded a massive legal payday that ultimately changed very little about how the city operates.
The Math That Doesn’t Add Up
Break down the numbers and the picture gets even more stark. The two homeless plaintiffs combined received $22,000 total—enough to maybe rent a studio apartment in San Francisco for about four months. Meanwhile, the legal teams that represented them are splitting a pot that’s 127 times larger…