Dartmouth Football Team, 1901.
1.7 Multiplier Awarded By N.D. Cal. District Judge.
On December 10, 2015, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilkens of the Northern District of California awarded lead plaintiffs’ counsel almost $12 million in fees for work leading to the settlements in a class action case brought by student athletes for misappropriation of their likenesses without permission. District Judge Wilkens awarded a 1.7 multiplier to the $6.8 million base lodestar, citing the outstanding results—about $60 million in settlements between the two defendants—for six years of hard-fought litigation engaged in by lead class counsel. This award was in Keller/O’Bannon v. NCAA, Nos. C09-1987 CW and C09-3329 CW.