ATLANTA — The new attorney handling Georgia’s appeal in the long-running legal battle with Alabama and Florida over water rights will be paid $855 an hour.

A representative from Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office said Friday that Seth Waxman’s hourly rate is a 10 percent discount off his normal rate of $950 an hour.

Waxman is a former U.S. solicitor general who was tapped this week to replace Paul Clement after he had to withdraw because of a possible conflict of interest.

Clement, another former U.S. solicitor general, was the attorney of record for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in an appeal to the Supreme Court in the case.

Waxman is leading the state’s appeal of a federal judge’s ruling in July that concluded it was illegal for Atlanta to draw drinking water from Lake Lanier, the city’s main water supply. The judge gave Georgia and the other states three years to work out a deal involving the reservoir.