DATE: Monday, July 7, 1997                  TAG: 9707070051

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: CHARLESTON, S.C.                  LENGTH:   28 lines

CITADEL FACES LEGAL BATTLE OVER FEES FROM FIGHT TO GO COED

Lawyers who fought to admit women to The Citadel now will fight over millions of dollars in legal fees run up during the five-year battle.

The lawyers who challenged the state military school's all-male admissions policy want $6.7 million. But the school says the attorneys are billing for ``grossly duplicative and excessive hours'' at rates of up to $450 an hour.

U.S. District Judge C. Weston Houck opens a hearing today.

The Citadel dropped its all-male policy a year ago after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a similar policy at Virginia Military Institute was unconstitutional.

Four women enrolled this year, though two later dropped out, saying they were hazed and harassed. That investigation is ongoing.

The women said they had to get out-of-state lawyers because the issue was so controversial.

``Public sentiment opposing the lawsuit was loud, bitter and overwhelming,'' the women said in court documents. ``No local law firm with adequate resources was willing to fight such a tide.''

Insurance will cover no more than $1 million in lawyer's fees, according to the State Insurance Reserve Fund.

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