Class Counsel Rewrites the Script — One Day After the Court Splits the Clock
Gloves Up · Round One Begins April 21 · 9:30 a.m. · D.C. Circuit
On April 13, 2026, the D.C. Circuit ordered oral argument time split by party: FHFA got 20 minutes. Berkley got 15. The Class got a paltry 5.
One day later, Hamish Hume and Brian Barnes sent the Clerk a letter with a different plan. Split the plaintiffs' combined 20 minutes by subject matter instead.
Hume — who tried the case — argues the defendants' appeal. He defends the jury verdict. Barnes — whose firm specializes in exactly this constitutional terrain — argues the cross-appeal. He goes for more damages.
Each lawyer on the issue he knows cold. No context-switching. No diluted focus.
And the government? Confirmed they do not object.
That is not what a confident appellant gives up without a fight. That is what you concede when you've already decided which punches you can take.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been in government conservatorship since 2008. They've returned over $300 billion to Treasury — more than was ever extended. The Net Worth Sweep was never part of the deal.
A conservatorship preserves. It doesn't harvest forever.