Second District, Division 2 Finds No Higher Award is Warranted.
In Knik v. Marriott International, Inc., Case No. B220529 (2d Dist., Div. 2 July 14, 2010) (unpublished), plaintiff’s attorneys in a wage/hour class action obtained an award of $93,161 in attorney’s fees in a case where the gross settlement amount was $700,000. They wanted $210,000 instead, even though aggregate fees were $117,401.5–requesting a 2.05 multiplier to get to the magic number. After disallowing some minimal costs, the trial court granted the $93,161 in fees based on a 1.1 multiplier.
Plaintiff appealed, ostensibly because their attorneys wanted more.
C’mon, everybody, said the appellate court.
You received fees for about 230 hours of work, over $3,240 per day or $405 per hour for 28 eight-hour days of work over the course of one year. Given this minimal investment of time, do not complain. No abuse of discretion in this one.