Up For Grabs: $16 Million Class Counsel Fee Award in the Balance on Remand. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in the next case, sent a strong message to class action attorneys that you cannot structure class representatives’ incentive awards conditioned on their support for the settlement, especially where the incentive awards exceeded […]
As reported by Andrew Longstreth in an April 4, 2013 post at Thomson Reuters News & Insight, N.D. Cal. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston awarded dozens of plaintiffs’ law firms $310 million in attorney’s fees in a long-running antitrust price-fixing case where over $1 billion in settlements were obtained in a dispute over
Finds Cy Pres Practice Okay, But Needs Monitoring. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals in In re Baby Products Antitrust Litig., Case Nos. 12-1165 et al. (3d Cir. Feb. 19, 2013) (published as precedential) refused to sustain a $14 million fee award to class counsel in an antitrust case where only $3 million
In Selby v. Cingular Wireless LLC, Case No. G045769 (4th Dist., Div. 3 Jan. 29, 2013) (unpublished), a plaintiff in a long-running Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CRLA) battle finally lost on a judgment on the pleadings battle, which was affirmed by our local Santa Ana appellate court in a 3-0 opinion authored by
Equity Can Play a Role In These Disputes, Rules Fourth District, Division 3. Barnes, Crosby, Fitzgerald & Zeman, LLP v. Ringler, Case No. G045872 (4th Dist., Div. 2 Dec. 19, 2012) (published) goes to show you that equity does interplay with ethical fee-sharing restrictions. Here, the Fourth District, Division 3, in a
In re Insurance Installment Fees Case, Case No. D057138 (4th Dist., Div. 1 Dec. 13, 2012) (published) is a situation where defendant appealed class action plaintiffs’ successful motion to tax costs of $713,463.72 that defendant sought to shift to plaintiffs. The costs were those for sending notices to insurance policyholders about discovery of personal
District Judge Rejected $1.7 Million In Fee and Costs Requested by Plaintiff’s Attorneys. District Judge Michael Telesca, in Mendez v. The Radec Corporation, Case No. 03-cv-6342 (W.D.N.Y.), recently nixed plaintiffs’ attorneys’ request for a $1.7 million fees/costs award in a Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) class action. The class obtained a settlement recovery
Moral of the Story …. Be Careful What You Ask For (Or Don’t Ask For). Here is a very interesting arbitration/litigation saga about attorneys and clients bickering over how to divide class action attorney’s fees. It also shows an objecting attorney that you better be careful how you proceed (and the objecting attorney
Undisclosed Incentive Arrangement Meant Conflicts of Interest Predominated under Federal Equitable Principles, And Denial of Fees to All But One Objector Group Sustained Also. The Ninth Circuit just came out with its decision in Rodriguez/Frailich v. Disner, Case Nos. 10-55309 et al. (9th Cir. Aug. 10, 2012) (published), where they affirmed the denial
Award Represented a 3.2 Multiplier. In McKenzie v. Federal Express Corporation, U.S.D.C., C.D. Cal. Case No. CV 10-02420 GAF (PLAx) (Doc. No. 139 July 2, 2012), U.S. District Judge Gary Allen Feess (appropriate last name for this post) awarded plaintiffs’ class counsel $2,062,500 in attorney’s fees in a California Labor Code wage/hour case,
