Mealey's Attorney Fees : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Attorney Fees

November 14, 2024
6th Circuit Upholds ASR Hip MDL Arbitration Award In Decade-Old Dispute

CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s judgment confirming an arbitration award in a long-running contingency fee dispute between an attorney and a former client he represented in a DePuy ASR hip litigation, but in a concurrence, one judge criticized the actions of the attorney, saying his conduct “results in disrespect for the legal profession.”
November 13, 2024
Law Firm’s $8M Global Data Breach Settlement Granted Final Approval

SAN FRANCISCO — An $8 million global class settlement to be paid by a law firm after its network was breached and the personally identifiable information (PII) of more than 630,000 individuals was potentially accessed was granted final approval on Nov. 12 by a federal judge in California.
November 11, 2024
Final OK Given To $5.5M Amazon COVID-19 Screenings Pay Class Settlement

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal magistrate judge in California granted final approval of a $5.5 million settlement between California workers and Amazon.com Services LLC, ending two cases in which the workers allege that they were denied pay for time spent undergoing COVID-19 symptom screenings before their shifts.
November 11, 2024
Magistrate: Sports Store Owed Fees In Copyright Case After Summary Judgment

TAMPA, Fla. — A federal magistrate judge in Florida recommended the award of attorney fees to an online sports memorabilia store after a federal judge granted the store’s motion for summary judgment in its favor on claims brought against it by a photography company that accused it of copyright infringement by selling prints of photos of horse races.
November 11, 2024
Immigrant Separation Class Awarded More Than $6.4M In Attorney Fees, Costs

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California awarded a class of immigrants separated from their children who sued the federal government and settled more than $6.4 million for attorney fees and expenses.
November 08, 2024
Wyoming Supreme Court Reduces Attorney Fees Award In Property Sale Dispute

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Determining that a contractual lawsuit between former neighbors over a sale of real estate that never happened “did not involve novel or complex legal issues,” the Wyoming Supreme Court reduced an attorney fees award to the prevailing party by almost $27,000.
November 06, 2024
9th Circuit Restores Full Attorney Fees Award Of Social Security Claimant

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal magistrate judge erred in finding that part of a Social Security claimant’s attorney fees request was categorically excluded under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, in light of the magistrate’s finding that the denial of her benefits request by the Social Security Administration (SSA) was not “substantially justified.”
November 04, 2024
Judge Approves $21M Class Settlement Over Silver Mine’s Alleged Misrepresentations

DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado approved a settlement of $21 million to end class allegations that a silver mine overstated its reserves in several Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
November 04, 2024
Ky. Supreme Court Affirms Attorney Fees Denial In Child Custody Proceeding

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A family court correctly denied a father’s motion for attorney fees in a child support modification dispute with his child’s mother, a Kentucky Supreme Court majority ruled, holding that absent “inappropriate tactics or frivolous filings,” Kentucky law does not generally provide for attorney fees awards in the nonadversarial area of family law.
November 01, 2024
Judge Rejects Online Sports Betting Company’s Request For Fees In Patent Dispute

WILMINGTON, Del. — While a federal judge in Delaware held that a defendant online sports gambling company is the prevailing party in a suit brought against it by a patent owner accusing it of infringement, he said the company is not owed attorney fees or other costs because the case is not “exceptional” as defined under the Patent Act.
October 31, 2024
Judge Grants Final Approval To Nearly $20M Settlement Of Ticket Insurance Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted final approval to a nearly $20 million settlement resolving claims that insurers including Allianz Global Assistance (AGA) violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws in relation to its online marketing of travel and event insurance, with the plaintiffs’ attorneys awarded nearly $5 million in attorney fees.
October 31, 2024
9th Circuit: No Fees For Defendant Who Settled Adult Film Copyright Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with a California federal judge’s decision to deny attorney fees to a John Doe defendant who settled with a prodigiously litigious adult film company that accused Doe of copyright violations, but the panel disagreed as to why Doe was not due fees.
October 30, 2024
Objectors Appeal $17.3M Attorney Fees Award In Settled Oil, Gas Royalty Class Suit

OKLAHOMA CITY — Two objectors in an oil and gas royalty payments class lawsuit that has gone on for more than a dozen years and that was settled for $52 million filed two separate notices of appeal after a federal judge in Oklahoma granted a renewed motion for $17,333,333 in attorney fees.
October 30, 2024
Credit Unions Seek Final OK Of Wawa Data Breach Suit Settlement, Fees Award

PHILADELPHIA — One year after preliminary approval was given to a settlement between a class of financial institutions (FIs) and Wawa Inc. in a suit over a 2019 data breach experienced by the convenience store chain, the FIs filed a motion in Pennsylvania federal court for final approval of the settlement, which is valued at $28.5 million, as well as a motion for an attorney fees and costs award of $8.5 million.
October 29, 2024
College’s $575,000 Settlement With Students Over Pandemic Refunds Granted Final OK

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Oct. 28 granted final approval of a $575,000 settlement to be paid by Lebanon Valley College (LVC) to end a class complaint by students seeking refunds for tuition and fees after classes switched from in-person to remote in response to the coronavirus pandemic; separately, the judge awarded attorney fees, expenses and a $2,500 class contribution award the same day.
October 29, 2024
Indiana Appeals Panel Reverses Ruling For Employer In Attorney Fees Dispute

INDIANAPOLIS — In an unpublished memorandum decision reversing a state court’s order, an Indiana Court of Appealspanel ruled in part that an employer that participates in the Indiana Assigned Risk Reinsurance Plan didn’t exhaust its administrative remedies because it had not requested appellate attorney fees and prejudgment interest from the plan administrator.
October 25, 2024
4th Circuit Affirms Sanctions, Attorney Fees In Asbestos Referral Fight

RICHMOND, Va. — A federal court properly sanctioned an asbestos law firm for state court lawsuits it filed in an attempt to block litigation between it and another law firm in a fee dispute, and the factors generally used to award prevailing parties attorney fees do not apply in cases where the fees are awarded as a sanction, a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said Oct. 24.
October 24, 2024
Timely Notice, Other Issues Disputed In Reinsurer’s 5th Circuit Appeal

NEW ORLEANS — Contending in its appellee brief that the trial court “followed its obligation to effectuate the parties’ intent,” an insurer urged the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to uphold a $2,866,423.97 judgment against a reinsurer that includes attorney fees.
October 24, 2024
$92M Attorney Fee Award Entered In ACA Row Between Health Insurers And Government

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pursuant to the opinion and order issued by a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge granting class counsel’s renewed motions for approval of attorney fee requests, the clerk of court entered a judgment of $92,424,335.84 to class counsel in a risk-corridor payment dispute under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that is related to a similar suit involving insurers in liquidation also seeking compensation under the ACA.
October 23, 2024
In Malpractice Suit, Nevada High Court Modifies Attorney Fee Award

CARSON CITY, Nev. — In consolidated appeals of a malpractice suit over a 2009 surgery mishap, the Nevada Supreme Court largely affirmed rulings in favor of the prevailing plaintiff; however, the court modified an attorney fee award of more than $1.5 million to reflect a lesser fee award against two professional entities, with the court holding that “a vicariously liable professional entity cannot be held more liable than its principal and thus cannot owe more . . . attorney fees than its principal.”
October 21, 2024
California Cities Appeal Denial Of Interim Attorney Fees In Clean Water Act Case

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Two California cities are asking the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn a federal judge’s decision not to reconsider interim attorney fees granted to an environmental organization that sued the cities under the Clean Water Act (CWA) for discharging bacteria pollution from stormwater sewage systems.
October 18, 2024
Judge Finds Jurisdiction Over Nicaragua’s Bid To Enforce $1.5M Fee Award

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied a motion filed by trustees of a family trust to dismiss a petition filed against them by the Republic of Nicaragua seeking to enforce an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award for more than $1.5 million in attorney fees with compound interest, which it won in 2023 after prevailing in an oil investment arbitration brought by the trust and its co-claimants.
October 18, 2024
Magistrate: Video Game Creator Due More Than $35K In Awards In Copyright Case

NEW YORK — A federal magistrate judge in New York recommended that the creator of popular horror video game franchise be awarded more than $35,000 in statutory damages, attorney fees and costs from a defendant Chinese company that the creator said infringed his copyrights by selling unauthorized clothing items featuring characters he designed, due to the company’s failure to appear and defend itself from the complaint.
October 17, 2024
Illinois High Court Upholds Attorney Fee Award For Work On Liquidating Estates

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed that two attorneys and their law firms are entitled to a quantum meruit recovery of more than $1.6 million in fees and expenses for the work they did in litigation to liquidate and divide assets of two estates before terminating their services, finding that the trial court properly used the contingency fee arrangement in the parties’ attorney-client contract to determine the amount of fees owed.
October 16, 2024
Panel Affirms Fee Award For Planned Parenthood In Undercover Investigation Row

SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that a lower court’s award of $13,781,010.42 in attorney fees and costs to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. “was not unreasonably disproportionate” in its case against anti-abortion activists that conducted an undercover investigative reporting operation related to claims that Planned Parenthood regularly harvested fetal organ tissue.