In The News

  MDL Common Benefit Fee Article.     U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon (E.D. La.) has written an article, “Common Benefit Fees in Multidistrict Litigation,” published at 74 La. Law Rev. 371-389 (Winter 2014). In it, this jurist talks about the approaches adopted by MDL transferee courts in establishing procedures to compensate members of plaintiff […]

  If We Read Them Right, A Big Portion Went to Attorney’s Fees/Costs.      We give a HAT TIP to Bruce Nye, a seasoned litigator who has been doing a very entertaining, informative blog called “Cal Biz Lit” for a number of years. We thank him for summarizing the 2013 settlement numbers for Proposition 65

  Sky Analytics Conducts Groundbreaking Study.      We thank our friends at NALFA for a recent post on a groundbreaking study which we now share with you.      Sky Analytics, a provider of legal spend management software for corporate legal departments, recently issued a gender study based on actual billings from law firms, available for

       Bank of America recently reported that 2014 second-quarter earnings were impacted adversely by $4 billion in litigation costs crimping earnings by 22 cents a share. Almost all of these expenses were related to existing mortgage issues that had been previously disclosed, according to B of A.      BLAWG BONUS:  "A billion here, a

  Damages Could Be $675 Million Or More; NFL Agrees To Pay And Not Contest $112.5 Million In Fees/Costs To Class Counsel.      On July 7, 2014, U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody gave preliminary approval to a settlement in In re NFL Player’s Concussion Injury Litig., No. 2:12-md-02323-AB (E.D. Pa. July 7, 2014, Doc.

Patent Trolls First.      Although patent troll legislation has stalled for now in Congress, the dual U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Octane Fitness, LLC v. Icon Health & Fitness, Inc., 134 S.Ct. 1749 (2014) and Highmark, Inc. v. Allcare Health Mgmt. Sys., Inc., 134 S.Ct. 1744 (2014) may have given some impetus to defendants

David Boies, Too, Pans the Billable Hour. ​In a June 26, 2014 post at the on-line version of the ABA Journal, David Peer has written an article suggesting a proposal to amend ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Model Rule 1.5 to list factors which would promote alternative billing arrangements in lieu of the hourly

  $15 Million is the Stipulated Fees/Costs To Plaintiffs’ Counsel Under Clear Sailing Provision.      Oracle Corp., the largest marker of database software, has signed a June 13, 2014 settlement agreement with shareholders challenging its merger with Pillar Data System, a company in which Oracle founder Larry Ellison had a 55% interest—claiming the merger unfairly