Attorney Payouts Highlighted In The Article.
Tom Manzo, founder of the California Business and Industrial Alliance, wrote an OpEd piece, “Will state get serious about labor code lawsuit reform?,” in the April 6, 2026 issue of The Orange County Register. In it, he mentions that in 2024, the year lawmakers were supposed to enact a major overhaul, 1,806 Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) lawsuits generated more than $1.6 billion in total settlements, with attorneys collecting more than $508 million of that amount. Then, in 2025, the settlements rose to 2,420 cases, with the total payouts exceeding $2.2 billion and attorneys taking home $740 million. In the first two months of 2026, there were 471 settlements and $114 million in attorney payouts.