Trial Judge Properly Approved Class Action Settlement And Attendant Fee Award To Class Counsel.
Russell v. EF International Language Schools, Inc., Case No. B263612 (2d Dist., Div. 1 Oct. 27, 2016) (unpublished) involved a trial judge’s approval of a wage/hour class action settlement, which approval was appealed by several objecting class members (objectors). The total settlement was for $575,000, with 67% of the class members submitting claims for recovery. The lower court awarded one-third of the settlement value, or $191,666.67, in fees to class counsel. Objectors claimed that using the percentage of recovery method was an abuse of discretion, but the 2/1 DCA observed that use of this type of methodology was expressly validated by the California Supreme Court in its recent decision of Laffitte v. Robert Half International Inc., 1 Cal.5th 480, 503 (2016) [discussed in our August 15, 2016 post].