Pennsylvania won't pay for Butler County's fight over state COVID-19 restrictions after a federal judge denied a request for attorney fees.

But neither will the myriad plaintiffs in the county's lawsuit, their attorney said.

U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV denied a motion by the plaintiffs — including Butler, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties, several citizens and business owners, and Republican elected officials — to reopen their challenge to the state's pandemic restrictions for the purpose of seeking attorneys' fees from Pennsylvania.

The order, issued Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, found the plaintiffs could not seek fees because the circuit court vacated Stickman's earlier ruling in their favor. Under federal case law, the order states, there is no claim for attorney fees when a case is dismissed, and the lower court's judgment vacated, due to mootness.

Tom King, a Butler attorney with Dillon McCandless King Coulter & Graham, said Thursday that despite Stickman's denial, neither Butler County nor any other plaintiff would be on the hook for more than $135,000 in attorney fees incurred during the litigation.

“There's no intention on our part to charge the clients, and the Thomas More Society funded the appeals (to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit),” King said.

The Thomas More Society is a legal nonprofit based in Chicago, and describes itself as “dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family and religious liberty.” King is special counsel for the society and for the Amistad Project, one of the society's initiatives.

In a September 2020 request for fees that was stayed pending appeal, the plaintiffs' attorneys presented their invoices to the court, detailing the $135,789.80 due to the law firm. Included in the charges was $128,837.50 for more than 775 hours of work by attorneys and paralegals, with the rest comprised of costs paid for research services, parking and transcriptions.

King said, as he did when the Third Circuit vacated Stickman's judgment, that the plaintiffs plan to appeal the appellate court's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.