Flonase Class Action Counsel Win $50 Million In Fees, District Judge Selna Puts Hold On Fee Award To Toyota Unintended Acceleration Class Action Attorneys, N.Y. Bankruptcy Judge Approves $17 Million In Fees to Dewey & Lebouef’s Chapter 11 Attorneys, DOJ Approves New Larger Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Fee Guidelines, N.Y. Federal Judge Awards $40.7 Million to Madoff Feeder Funds Class Action Attorneys, And D.C. Federal Judge Awards $90.8 Million In Fees To Black Farmer Class Action Lawyers
We would like to thank our good friends at NALFA for providing blogs about the following topics of interest (to us, and hopefully you).
Flonase Class Action Fee Award.
Plaintiffs’ counsel in the Flonase antitrust monopoly class action were awarded $50 million in fees and $2.1 million in expenses. The total settlement was for $150 million on behalf of 33 direct purchasers, compensating 41,000 hours of lawyer work at an average $407 hourly billing rate, replete with a 2.99 multiplier found routine by the judge in this type of case.
Toyota Unintended Acceleration Class Action Fee Proceeding.
U.S. District Judge James V. Selna (C.D. Cal.) tentatively approved $200 million in fees and $27 million in expenses for plaintiffs’ attorneys in this class action against Toyota, determining that the 12.3% in fees based on settlement value was reasonable (with Toyota agreeing to pay it separately from the settlement fund) but should be put on hold while some underlying settlement allocation issues were worked out.
Dewey & LeBouef’s Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case.
A New York bankruptcy judge approved payment of $17 million for lawyers and advisers in the Chapter 11 Dewey/LeBouef bankruptcy case. He commented on how swiftly the case had proceeded, with the U.S. Trustee’s Office only proposing minor reductions in the fee applications.
New DOJ Guidelines For Bankruptcy Fees In Larger Chapter 11 Cases.
Effective November 1, 2013, DOJ has adopted new fee guidelines for bankruptcy attorneys involved in larger Chapter 11 cases, defined as involving companies with $50 million in assets and $50 million in liabilities (but not include single asset real estate cases). Here are the highlights of the new guidelines: (1) lawyers must explain the methodology for their rates, with rates reflecting the overall market outside of bankruptcy matters and based on venue-driven rates; (2) lawyers must justify increases in hourly rates of more than 10%; (3) rough budgets must be provided; (4) billing records must be submitted in an open, searchable electronic format; (5) use of independent fees committees and fee examiners are encouraged; and (6) use of model forms and templates for fee applications is being encouraged.
Madoff Feeder Funds Litigation Fee Award.
A New York judge approved a $40.7 million fee request by plaintiff securities attorneys negotiating a $217 million settlement in the Madoff feeder funds litigation.
This was done after the judge ordered a decrease for time spent in document review, finding the overall award was below the standard contingency rate charged by lawyers in these particular cases.
Detroit Chapter 9 Bankruptcy Fee Prediction.
One attorney has predicted that Chapter 9 bankruptcy fees in the Detroit bankruptcy could top $100 million. Jones Day won the bidding for bankruptcy counsel, filing a request to be compensated $1.4 million for 6 months on the job. For comparative purposes, Orange County, CA expended $86 million in its 18-month bankruptcy, while Jefferson County, Alabama has expended $20 million since August 2011 in a still open case.
Black Farmer Class Action.
A D.C. federal judge has awarded $90.8 million to plaintiffs’ class action attorneys in the Black Farmer class action. DOJ had agreed that acceptable fees could be awarded in a 4.1-7.4% range based on the settlement common fund value of $1.25 billion. Over DOJ’s objection, the district judge awarded the maximum 7.4% amount, finding great skill was exhibited by plaintiffs’ attorneys in a case riddled with challenges and complicated issues.