Cases: Class Actions

Class Actions: Except For Initial Common Fund Award To Main Class Action Attorneys, Additional Fees Are Going To Be Capped At 25% Of Settlement Amount

Cases: Class Actions

Flint, Michigan Class Action Case Fee Issues Are Resolved At the District Court Level.             District Judge Judith Levy of the USDC, E.D. Michigan, has issued her decision on how attorney’s fees should be allocated in the Flint, Michigan water class action.  The total settlement was for $626 million.  She decided that the main attorneys […]

Class Actions: Ninth Circuit Affirms 25% Class Action Fee Award Based On Cy Pres Payments/Injunctive Relief Settlements

Cases: Class Actions

Majority Author Affirms The Settlement, But—In A Concurrence—Writes It Is Time To Reconsider The Practice Of Cy Pres Awards.             In In re Google Inc. Street View Electronic Communications Litig., Case No. 20-15616 (9th Cir. Dec. 27, 2021) (published), the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district judge’s approval of a settlement in a 60-million member class

Class Actions: Ninth Circuit Determines Vouchers Are Coupons, And Pre-Certification Settlement Must Be Reviewed With Heightened Scrutiny

Cases: Class Actions

Ninth Circuit Showing A Significant Trend To Review Class Action Settlements Closely, Especially Where Non-Cash Relief, Clear Sailing Provisions, And Reverter Features Are Involved.             The Ninth Circuit certainly has taken a much closer scrutiny of coupon/voucher/non-cash relief settlements in a series of decisions we have posted on in the past under our category “Class

Class Action, Employment: Eighth Circuit Court Of Appeals Reverses $1 Fee Award To Class Counsel Where Some Work Was Done Despite Failing to Segregate Compensatory/Fee Negotiations And Despite Billing Problems

Cases: Class Actions, Cases: Employment

Dissenting Circuit Judge Would Have Affirmed District Judge Fee Award.             Vines v. Welspun Pipes Inc., No. 20-2168 (8th Cir. Aug. 18, 2021) is an interesting case which shows how appellate circuit judges can have differing perspectives on approaching class action fee awards.             What happened in this one is that class action counsel on

Class Actions: $1.2 Million Class Action Fee Award Remanded For Another Look Where Ninth Circuit Majority Was Convinced Settlement Valuation Was Overinflated And Clear Sailing Provision Indicated Possible Collusion With The Defense

Cases: Class Actions

Ninth Circuit Seems To Be Looking At Class Action Settlement Valuations Most Closely, Although Dissenting Circuit Judge Thought District Judge’s Decision Was Adequate.             We are starting to discern a trend by the Ninth Circuit to scrutinize class action settlements and fee requests with more rigor, as Kim v. Allison (Tinder, Inc.), Case No. 19-55807

Appealability, Class Action, Common Fund: Ninth Circuit, In A Case Which Was Not A Classic Common Fund Case When Google Agreed To Pay Class Action Counsel Outside Of Fund, Determines Award Of $725,580.80 To Class Counsel Was Not Appealable

Cases: Appealability, Cases: Class Actions, Cases: Common Fund

No Final Judgment/Settlement Occurred, With Google Agreeing To Pay Outside Of The Common Fund, And With The Collateral Order Doctrine Not Inapplicable Under The Circumstances.             The Ninth Circuit, in AdTrader, Inc. v. Google, LLC, Case No. 20-15542 (9th Cir. July 30, 2021) (published), faced an interesting fact pattern as evidenced by this passage near

Class Action: Ninth Circuit Reverses And Remands Class Counsel Fee Award Where There Were “Red Flags” Of Collusion About Distribution Of Funds Between Class And Its Counsel

Cases: Class Actions

Inordinate Fee Distributions, Clear Sailing Provisions, And Reverter Of Reduced Fees Award To Defendant Were Storm Warnings In This Particular Case.             Briseno v. Henderson (ConAgra Foods, Inc.), Case No. 19-56297 (9th Cir. June 1, 2021) (published) is a must review for any clients and practitioners in the class action area.  It certainly shows the

Class Actions: Class Action Objector’s Objection To Class Action Fees Was Sustained Until True Value Of Vouchers And Coupons Could Be Determined

Cases: Class Actions

Pragmatic Valuation of Class Action Settlement Is Key In Voucher/Coupon Cases.             Rael v. The Children’s Place, Inc., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63117 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 31, 2021) is a situation where class action counsel’s fee award was denied without prejudice until the true value of a voucher and coupon settlement could be determined under

Class Actions: Ninth Circuit Clarifies What Method Should Be Used To Calculate Attorney’s Fees Under CAFA In A Mixed Coupon/Non-Coupon Class Action Settlement

Cases: Class Actions

Percentage Of Value Governs Coupon Portion And Lodestar Governs Non-Coupon Portion, Articulating How To Calculate Lodestar In The Latter Situation; But …. Lodestar Can Be Applied In A Mixed Settlement If Adjustments Are Made For Coupon Portion Of Settlement.             Practitioners and district judges in the Ninth Circuit should welcome the circuit court’s clarification of

Class Action: Recent S.D. California District Judge Order In Mixed Coupon/Non-coupon Class Action Provides Guidance On Fee Motion Review Standards

Cases: Class Actions

For Noncoupon Relief, District Judge Bashant Grants $3.42 Million In Fees Based On Anticipated $10.5 Million Cash Fund Versus Class Counsel’s $5.7 Million Lodestar Request.             U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant’s decision in In re Easysaver Rewards Litig., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 77483 (S.D. Cal. May 1, 2020) contains an excellent discussion of the methodology

Scroll to Top