Takeaway: Courts are continuing to take a hard look at class action fee awards, and in In re T-Mobile Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, --- F.4th ----, 2024 WL 3561874 (8th Cir. July 29, 2024), the Eighth Circuit...more
In case you missed it, this post recaps some key False Claims Act (FCA) decisions and case updates from the second quarter of this year. Courts weighed in on the FCA’s anti-retaliation provision, its first-to-file bar, and...more
Key Points: A dispute over attorney’s fees alone cannot be the trigger for a lawsuit or a fee award under Fla. Stat. § 627.70152. Fla. Stat. § 627.70152 does not create a separate and independent right to attorney’s fees....more
The Ninth Circuit recently struck a blow against plaintiffs’ attorneys’ ability to recover handsome attorney’s fee awards in class action settlements when there is little actual benefit to the class. In Lowery v Rhapsody...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in McKnight v. Hinojosa, No. 21-16623, 2022 WL 17333820 (9th Cir. Nov. 30, 2022) considered whether the proposed class action settlement was a "coupon settlement" and therefore...more
A federal district court rejected a novel request from class counsel for reimbursement of counsel’s litigation funding expenses. According to the court in Perez v. Rash Curtis & Assoc., No. 16-03396 (N.D. Cal. October 1,...more
Earlier this month in Levy v. Levy, No. SC20-1195, 2021 WL 4614308 (Fla. Oct. 7, 2021), the Supreme Court of Florida issued a ruling that section 57.105(7) of the Florida Statutes did not apply to the attorney’s fee provision...more
Key Takeaways - The Ninth Circuit holds that, following changes to Rule 23(e), the Bluetooth factors for fairness of pre-certification class action settlements also apply to post-certification settlements....more
Ninth Circuit decision prohibits use of lodestar-only methodology to calculate a fee award for class action settlements involving coupons. The decision contemplates coupon class action settlements where coupons are...more
Attorney fee awards are a major driver of class action litigation – both in the employment and other contexts. How they are awarded, and what is “reasonable” has been an ongoing source of contention in many cases. A recent...more
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a decision regarding the fee award in the National Football League concussion injury litigation. The decision is non-precedential but still instructive. ...more
Companies may be inclined to offer “coupons” or similar benefits to settle consumer class actions. While offering coupons is permissible, in In re Easysaver Rewards Litigation, No. 16-56307, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 28000 (9th...more
As the U.S. Supreme Court kicks off its 2018 term this week, it prepares to take up a series of firsts, including questions about the America Invents Act, securities fraud and privacy-related class action litigation. At the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an opinion laced with frustration over a third appeal in a class action involving attorneys’ fees, the Seventh Circuit ruled that an objector was entitled to recover attorneys’ fees from class counsel’s...more
A plaintiff who voluntarily dismisses a lawsuit after entering into a monetary settlement may be a “prevailing party” entitled to costs and fees under California law. deSaulles v. Community Hospital of the Monterey...more
The Seventh Circuit affirmed a class action coupon settlement involving “clear sailing” and “kicker” clauses and a fee award based on the lodestar analysis rather than the value of the redeemed coupons, and notwithstanding a...more
In In Re Southwest Airlines Voucher Litigation, Case No. 13-3264 (7th Cir. Aug. 20, 2015), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld a fee award to class counsel in a class action that resulted in a “coupon...more
Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered, so the saying goes. As we’ve noted before on Oct. 7, June 5, and Dec. 18, courts are starting to examine attorney fee awards in class action settlements much more closely, and the...more