Mealey's Attorney Fees
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January 15, 2025
Judge Orders Distribution Of Funds In $15 Million Zillow Securities Settlement
SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington ordered the distribution of a $15 million class action settlement in a case brought by investors against online real estate marketplace provider Zillow Group Inc. alleging that the provider concealed the development of a co-marketing program that violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and encouraged such violations in violation of federal securities laws.
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January 15, 2025
Attorney Fees Of Over $4.2M Awarded in $14.5M Settlement Of ESOP Deal Challenge
WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge on Jan. 14 granted final approval to two class settlements that the plaintiffs said sit “at the high end of the range of settlements resolving” similar employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) claims, with a combined recovery of $14.5 million that averages “about $35,109 per Class Member before fees, costs, and expenses.”
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January 15, 2025
Final Approval Given To $2 Million Insurance-Funded Settlement Of Data Breach Suit
PORTLAND, Ore. — Five months after preliminarily approving a $2 million settlement of a class action over a marketing execution firm’s 2022 data breach, an Oregon federal judge granted final approval, deeming the approval “fair, reasonable, and adequate” and in accord with the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.
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January 13, 2025
High Court Won’t Consider Fee Award In Copyright Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 denied a copyright defendant’s petition for a writ of certiorari, leaving in place a finding from the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that he was not the “prevailing party” under federal copyright law in the face of the copyright owner’s voluntary dismissal of the case.
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January 10, 2025
Negligence Suit Over Theft Of Genetic Data Settles For $8.9 Million
ATLANTA — Finding a settlement fund of $8.9 million to be “fair, reasonable, and adequate” to resolve class claims brought against two cancer treatment health care companies that were affected by a 2021 ransomware attack, a Georgia federal judge granted final approval to an agreement that allows for payments of up to $1,000 or $5,000 and releases all claims against the defendants.
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January 09, 2025
Federal Judge Grants Final Approval Of $15.25 Million Securities Settlement
GREENSBORO, N.C. — A medical device and pharmaceutical company and its shareholders received final approval of a settlement by a federal judge in North Carolina, ending a case brought by the shareholders, who alleged that they sustained financial losses based on false or misleading statements about securities offered by the company.
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January 09, 2025
Chicken Growers’ $100M Compensation Suppression Pact With Pilgrim’s Pride Approved
MUSKOGEE, Okla. — A federal judge in Oklahoma granted final approval of a $100 million plus interest settlement between a nationwide class of growers and one of the poultry processors accused of conspiring to suppress their compensation in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act and Section 202 of the Packers and Stockyards Act and granted a motion for attorney fees, expenses and service awards.
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January 09, 2025
Final Approval Granted To U.S. Portion Of Fracking Securities Global Settlement
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York granted final approval to the approximately $7 million U.S. portion of a global settlement in a case brought by investors alleging that an oil and gas exploration company violated securities laws.
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January 08, 2025
Home Depot’s $9.5 Million Meal, Rest Period Settlement Granted Final Approval
SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington in a pair of orders granted final approval of a $9.5 million class settlement by The Home Depot Inc. and Home Depot USA Inc. (together, Home Depot) in a complaint by workers who alleged that the companies owed unpaid wages and compensation for rest and meal breaks the workers were denied and approved the requested attorney fees, costs and incentive awards.
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January 07, 2025
Attorney Fee, Timeliness Issues Highlighted In U.S. Supreme Court Certiorari Bid
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Seeking the high court’s review of a ruling that affirmed judgment for multiemployer funds, a contractor and surety assert that the latest of the nine Miller Act decisions that the U.S. Supreme Court issued was handed down in 1978, saying, “The time is ripe for this Court to decide another Miller Act case, and this should be that case.”
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January 06, 2025
Meta, Users Oppose Objector’s Certiorari Bid Over Service Awards, Attorney Fees
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A class member who initially objected to the $90 million settlement of a privacy class action over the use of tracking cookies by Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) did not present any questions meriting attention by the U.S. Supreme Court in his petition for certiorari protesting service awards and attorney fees that were approved as part of the settlement, Meta and the lead plaintiffs argue in briefs opposing certiorari.
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January 06, 2025
Special Counsel In New Jersey PFAS Settlement Seek More Than $36.7M In Fees
WOODBURY, N.J. — The special counsel to the New Jersey attorney general and the plaintiffs filed a motion in New Jersey state court seeking $36,705,834.80 in attorney fees for their work in reaching a $392,781,963.69 settlement to resolve the state’s lawsuit for cleanup and removal costs from contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
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January 03, 2025
Motions For Attorney Fee Award Denied; Judge Says No Party Prevailed On Merits
PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon federal judge refused to award attorney fees to an insured or to her former attorneys who filed a complaint-in-intervention regarding the enforceability of the attorney-fee contract between the attorneys and the insured because there was no prevailing party as the claims-in-intervention were dismissed based on claim preclusion and not based on the merits of the intervenors’ claims.
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January 02, 2025
$2.45M Class Settlement In ERISA Annuity Calculation Case Wins Final Approval
MILWAUKEE — A class of about 500 individuals whose joint survivor annuity (JSA) benefits were calculated using a 1971 mortality table and 6% interest rate will receive increased benefits under a $2.45 million Employee Retirement Income Security Act settlement that a Wisconsin federal judge granted final approval.
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January 02, 2025
9th Circuit Panel Dismisses Appeal Of Fee Denial Reconsideration In CWA Case
SAN FRANCISCO — Citing lack of jurisdiction, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel has granted an environmental organization’s motion to dismiss an appeal the cities of Sunnyvale and Mountain View, Calif., filed of a federal court’s denial of reconsideration of interim attorney fees to the organization in a Clean Water Act (CWA) case.
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December 30, 2024
5th Circuit Argument Set In Reinsurer’s Appeal Involving Timely Notice
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has set oral argument for Feb. 5 in a reinsurer’s appeal of a $2,866,423.97 judgment that includes attorney fees; a key issue in the case is whether the reinsurer was given timely notice.
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December 19, 2024
Judge Orders Class Notified In $18.2M Settlement Of Senior Home Understaffing Suit
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge ordered that notification be issued to more than 4,100 class members comprising family members of former and current residents of care facilities after the court granted final approval of an $18.2 million settlement with the facilities’ operator, including $10.5 million in attorney fees, for claims that residents were harmed by understaffing in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and elder financial abuse law.
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December 19, 2024
Class Counsel Get A 3rd Of $9M Global Deal In ERISA Proprietary Funds Suit
CINCINNATI — An Ohio federal magistrate judge on Dec. 18 granted final approval to a global $9 million settlement of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over proprietary funds, from which she authorized paying the requested amounts of $3 million for attorney fees and $30,000 for service awards.
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December 19, 2024
$1.25 Million Settlement Approved In Onix Group Data Breach Class Action
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge presiding over a consolidated class action for negligence and consumer protection violations related to a 2023 data breach experienced by a Pennsylvania firm granted final approval to a $1.25 million settlement of the suit, overruling two objections and mostly granting requested attorney fees and service awards.
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December 18, 2024
Morgan Stanley Expenses Settlement Reaffirmed, Attorney Fees Disgorgement Denied
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California reaffirmed the fairness of a more than $10 million settlement in a case accusing Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (MSSB) of various wage violations and declined to vacate a supplemental attorney fees award, deny further distributions or disgorge past payments.
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December 18, 2024
Split Ohio High Court Rules On Prevailing Party In Deceptive Trade Practices Case
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A plaintiff who convinces a jury that a defendant violated the Ohio Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) but is awarded no damages or injunctive relief is not a “prevailing party” under the act, the Ohio Supreme Court majority ruled, reversing attorney fees for the plaintiff.
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December 18, 2024
$19M Class Settlement In Lawsuit Over ESOP Wins Final Approval
TAMPA, Fla. — Upon receiving a joint notice of nonobjection, a Florida federal judge on Dec. 17 granted final approval to a $19 million class settlement that the plaintiffs said will “provide[] an average recovery of more than $100,000 per class member on a gross basis, topping the chart of recent ESOP [employee stock ownership plan] settlements by a substantial margin.”
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December 17, 2024
GEICO Moves To Transfer Attorney Fee Issues To District Court In Fraud Suit
ATLANTA — GEICO filed a motion in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to transfer its motion for appellate attorney fee consideration to a district court in its suit against a health care clinic and related parties for allegedly submitting fraudulent no-fault insurance charges, arguing that because the lower court will be considering GEICO’s motion for attorney fees, “judicial economy” will be served by having only the district court “analyze the attorney’s fee issue.”
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December 17, 2024
Final Approval Recommended For $19M Class Deal In Lawsuit Over ESOP
TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida federal magistrate judge has recommended awarding the requested attorney fees and final approval of a $19 million class settlement that the plaintiffs say would “provide[] an average recovery of more than $100,000 per class member on a gross basis, topping the chart of recent ESOP [employee stock ownership plan] settlements by a substantial margin.”
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December 13, 2024
Ohio High Court Finds Man Vexatious Litigator, Orders Him To Pay Prosecutor’s Fees
COLUMBUS, Ohio — After reviewing documents submitted by a county prosecuting attorney, the Ohio Supreme Court found that a relator lied about public records requests he allegedly sent to the prosecutor and ordered the relator to pay the prosecutor $1,020 as a sanction for frivolous conduct.