In-State Class Counsel Only Garner $11,000 In Fees/Costs Out Of $36,290.50 Lodestar.
Class counsel must have been disappointed when the trial court refused to award any fees/costs to out-of-state counsel never admitted pro hac vice in the case and awarded only $11,000 in fees/costs out of the requested $36,290.50 lodestar (nixing a multiplier request).
That result stood up on appeal in Golba v. Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc., Case No. G049611 (4th Dist., Div. 3 July 14, 2015) (unpublished), authored by Acting Presiding Justice Fybel.
Because the out-of-state counsel never got admitted pro hac vice, they could not practice law in California so as to be entitled to recover fees and costs. As far as the in-state class counsel, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in reducing fees given that (1) much of the time, including extensive correspondence with co-counsel, appeared duplicative, and (2) only two of 232,000 class members submitted claims to receive vouchers on subsequent purchases at certain thresholds. (This was done despite a clear sailing clause by which Dick’s agreed not to oppose a fee request of up to $210,000.)