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, former college football and basketball players brought a class action against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), challenging the policy which banned players’ receipt of moneys for publicity rights as being a Sherman Act §1 restraint of trade. Eventually, players prevailed by obtaining permanent injunctive relief, although they did not win every issue in the case. The Ninth Circuit, in O’Bannon v. NCAA, No. 16-15803 (9th Cir. 2018) (unpublished; memorandum decision), affirmed an award of $40,794,245.09 in fees and $1,540,195.58 in costs to the athletes under an antitrust fee-shifting statute after finding that winning significant injunctive relief did warrant the award by the district judge.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Blasts Exorbitant Fee Request in Untimely Dismissal Case.
Although praising the quality of work, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron slashed a $464,164 fee request 62% by winning attorneys on behalf of a co-op which obtained a dismissal of an untimely proceeding by five residents of a housing complex. Instead, he only awarded $175,000 to the co-op’s winning attorneys. In doing so, he had some poignant comments about fee requests:
- The fee request was tantamount to “highway robbery without the six-gun”;
- “Such an outrageous figure sounds like a typographical error or an April Fool’s joke,” saying it could justify awarding no fees at all (although he did award fees);
- The fee request could buy some nice properties in certain New York areas, “the point being that we are not talking Monopoly money here”; and
- The ultimate award could have bought a nice ship with a lot of trimmings.
Justice Engoron also had a nice quote along the way: “Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, lawyers gotta litigate.”
IP Attorney Rates Are Released by S.D.N.Y. Judge, Showing They Are High Based on the Niche Practice Area.
Finally, S.D.N.Y. District Judge Katherine Forrest released some billings in a genetic engineering patent dispute, Regeneron v. Merus, when deciding an attorney’s fees request. It showed that experienced intellectual property patent litigators billed between $463-663 per hour while very well-known, superstar patent attorneys billed between $1,350-1,750 per hour. District Judge Forrest did find reasonable hourly rates of $775-1,355 charged by the major winning attorneys who practiced through a big law firm.