Four months after a federal judge ended his oversight of a sweeping settlement of a 1994 housing discrimination lawsuit, attorneys on both sides are squaring off in a battle over legal fees taxpayers will pay to the plaintiff's lawyer.

If successful, attorney Donald Driscoll and two other lawyers in the case will end up with more than $2.1 million in legal fees for their work on the Sanders case in the past 10 years.

The attorneys received two payments totaling $1.4 million between 1998 and 2001 and are asking for nearly $700,000 in legal fees this time around.

However, it's unlikely Driscoll and the other attorneys, Thomas Henderson and Julie Nepveu, will receive the full amount they have requested. Four years ago, Senior U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond reduced the $813,934 Driscoll initially requested by 33 percent to $548,357.

In addition, the Allegheny County Housing Authority and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have objected to the fee request in court documents.

Regardless of the outcome of the fee request, Driscoll, the lead attorney who has done the lion's share of work on the case, will receive at least 90 percent of the payout in legal fees.

The Sanders class action lawsuit takes its name from lead plaintiff Cheryl Sanders, a former resident of the demolished Talbot Towers public housing complex in Braddock. Though originally filed by Driscoll on behalf of Sanders and five other women, the plaintiffs were expanded to include all blacks in public and subsidized housing in Allegheny County.

The plaintiffs contended the county and HUD engaged in decades of systematic housing discrimination by funneling poor blacks to public housing in seven communities -- Braddock, Clairton, Duquesne, Homestead, McKees Rocks, Rankin and Wilkinsburg -- and the communities deteriorated as a result.

About $30 million was set aside in the settlement for revitalization of those towns from the county's annual share of federal Community Development Block Grants. In addition, funds were spent to buy 100 homes throughout the county to partially replace the units lost when Talbot Towers was demolished.

Driscoll, who was out of town last week and could not be reached, contends in his court request that he and the other attorneys are entitled to a higher rate of legal fees than he previously was paid in part because of their expertise and the complexity of the case.

In 2001, the attorneys were paid fees that ranged from $120 per hour to $160 per hour. This time, Driscoll is asking for fees that range from $162 per hour to $215 per hour.

The housing authority and HUD contend the hourly rate is too high and that Driscoll's calculations are faulty. Attorneys for HUD argue in court documents that Driscoll is entitled to a much lower hourly rate and number of hours billed to the government.

Under HUD's request, Driscoll and the other attorneys would receive only a fraction of the fees requested -- $145,982 instead of $697,028.

Though the numbers are far apart, attorneys on both sides are trying to work out a settlement without having to depend on Diamond to intervene, said John C. Hansberry, an attorney for the housing authority.

Hansberry said he is optimistic the case will be settled because Driscoll already has revised his fee request once in response to the objections from the housing authority and HUD.

"I think both parties are going to sit down and try to resolve as amicably as possible," Hansberry said.