OTTAWA — An Ontario court judge has ruled a $510-million legal fee for lawyers who worked on a First Nations treaty rights case was unreasonable — and has ordered the fee scaled back to $23 million.

“A lawyer’s professional retainer is not a lottery ticket offering a bonus prize of generational wealth to the lawyers if the clients hit the jackpot and win a mega-award,” Justice Fred Myers wrote in his decision released Tuesday.

The Robinson Huron Treaty settlement , reached in 2023, sought to remedy unpaid treaty annuities for 21 First Nations, including those in the Sudbury and Manitoulin areas and northeastern Ontario.

It resulted in a $10-billion settlement. Five per cent of that sum went to the lawyers from Nahwegahbow Corbiere Genoodmagejig/Barristers & Solicitors who argued the

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