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In The News . . . . U.S. District Judge Russell (W.D. Okla.) Slashes Successful Plaintiff Coalition’s Fee Request By More Than 75% After Religious Freedom Restoration Act Win Against Government In ACA Contraceptive Mandate Suit

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Reduction Was Due To Inflated Hourly Rates And Failure To Provide Breakdown Of Fees.             Although we are going by public reports of this decision, it is a reminder to be candid in fee submissions and follow a court’s directives to provide allocations/breakdown of fees in fee petition/motion proceedings.             Catholic Benefits Association LCA v.

In The News . . . . Engle Progeny Litigation Comes To An End After Nine Years, With Two Lead Firms Agreeing To Pay $4.3 Million In Sanctions For Filing Frivolous Suits

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Four Florida Judges Relieved That The Final Chapter Has Come To A Close.             This next story is truly a saga stemming out of the Florida “Engle progeny litigation,” as reported in a July 25, 2018 Reuters post by Alison Frankel which we now summarize.             The Engle progeny litigation stemmed from a long-ago Florida

In The News . . . . Tiered-Class Action Counsel Payment Methodology Was Proper And Gave Proper Award For A Risky Case

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Seventh Circuit So Decides, Also Resolving Appealability Issue And Rejecting That An Objector Should Be Awarded Fees.             In Birchmeier v. Caribbean Cruise Line, Inc., Nos. 17-1626 et al. (7th Cir. July 24, 2018) (published), the Seventh Circuit was reviewing the propriety of awarding class counsel fees on a “sliding scale” approach by which it

In The News . . . . $307,902.30 Fee Award Against EEOC Reversed Because Seventh Circuit Court Of Appeals Decided It Was Not Legally Frivolous In Nature

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Factual Reasonableness Was Conceded By Defense, And Legal Issue Was Novel Such That Fee Recovery Was Unwarranted.             Although we generally post on California cases, readers will notice that we do post on non-California federal cases of interest. Here is one of these cases emanating from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (a federal appellate

In The News . . . . E.D. Pa. District Judge Properly Reduced False Claims Act Relator’s $3.113 Million Fee Request Down To A Fees Award Of About $1.8 Million

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District Judge Did Not Have To Adopt Reasonable Fee Award Position Of The Defense, But Could Reduce The Request Even More.             USA ex rel. Palmer v C&D Technologies, Inc., No. 17-2350 (3d Cir. July 17, 2018) (precedential/published) involved a False Claims Act relator’s request for $3,113,530.50 in attorney’s fees under a prevailing party fee-shifting

In The News . . . College Athletes’ $42.3M Fee/Costs Award Affirmed In NCAA Class Action; Manhattan S.C. Slashes Fee Request 62% w/Poignant Comments On Exorbitant Fee Requests; S.D.N.Y. Dist. Judge Releases Info On Patent Litigators’ Hourly Rates

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We Thank NALFA For Providing Posts Which We Summarize.             We thank the National Association of Legal Fee Analysis (NALFA) for posting on three matters, which we summarize in our own way, which will be of interest to our readers.   College Athletes’ Fees/Costs Award in O’Bannon Class Action Against NCAA.             In this case,

In The News . . . . Edward Stolz, Owner Of Several California FM Radio Stations, Ordered To Pay More Than $1.5 Million In Damages/Attorney’s Fees/Costs To ASCAP For Copyright Failures To Pay Licensing Fees

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$900,000 In Attorney’s Fees/Costs And $330,000 In Statutory Damages Awarded In California When Base Dispute Was Over Around $300,000 In Licensing Fees.             This post shows that it pays to pay one’s owed licensing fees when there is a fee-shifting section under a statute (in this case, the Copyright Act) or under a licensing agreement

In The News . . . . Special Master’s Report In State Street Federal Class Action Unsealed, Recommending That $10.6 Million In Awarded Fees Of $75 Million Be Returned By Three Class Action Law Firms Representing Plaintiffs

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Objections To Report Recently Filed, Although Special Master Disturbed About What He Found.             A plaintiff class action in Arkansas Teachers Retirement System v. State Street Bank, No. 11-cv-10230 MLW et al. (D. Mass.) accused State Street of overcharging customers in certain foreign exchange transactions. A $300 million settlement was reached, and U.S. District Judge

In The News . . . . S.D.N.Y. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff Decides That Class Counsel Fees In Petrobras Securities Litigation Should Be Reduced By Roughly A Third

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Class Counsel Had Asked For $284.4 Million In Requested Fees, With Court Granting $186.5 Million In Fees, Plus Being Able To Add Actual Payments To Foreign Attorneys In Supplemental Expense Request.             In In re Petrobras Sec. Litig., No. 14-cv-9662-JSR (S.D.N.Y. June 25, 2018) (Doc. No. 834), U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff granted final

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