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Mealey's Attorney Fees

  • February 21, 2025

    9th Circuit Affirms Attorney Fees For Employees Sued In Trade Secret Misuse Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — After affirming a summary judgment order more than three years earlier, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an Arizona federal judge’s order granting attorney fees to former employees of a financial retirement company who were sued for alleged misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential information, finding that the claims arose out of a contract between the employees and the company.

  • February 21, 2025

    2nd Circuit Issues Mixed Ruling, Again Remands ERISA Deferred Compensation Row

    NEW YORK — Cross-appeals in a long-running Employee Retirement Income Security Act deferred compensation dispute resulted in a mixed ruling that a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued as a summary order, remanding for further proceedings.

  • February 21, 2025

    Texas Appeals Court Affirms Construction Defect Award, Remands Appeal Fees

    HOUSTON — A Texas state appeals court has affirmed most of a $492,363 jury award in a defective house case against developer K. Hovanian but reversed the award of appellate expert fees and unconditional appellate attorney fees for redetermination.

  • February 20, 2025

    Fund Manager Argues 1st Circuit Should Reverse Denial Of Fees In SEC Enforcement

    BOSTON — A hedge fund manager and his company argue in an appellant reply brief that the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should reverse a Massachusetts federal judge’s finding that they are not entitled to attorney fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) after partially prevailing on claims brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission because the sanctions the SEC demanded were excessive.

  • February 20, 2025

    Company Liable For Counterfeiting To High Court: Attorney Fees Unreasonable

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A distribution company and the man who controls it argue to the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for a writ of certiorari that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was wrong to uphold the entry of attorney fees against them in a trademark infringement suit; the petitioners were found liable for selling counterfeited beauty products.

  • February 14, 2025

    9th Circuit Rejects Appeal Of $725 Million Facebook Data-Sharing Suit Settlement

    SAN FRANCISCO — More than a year after a trial court approved the $725 million settlement of a consolidated class action over the 2015 sharing of Facebook users’ profiles with Cambridge Analytica, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 13 affirmed the approval over an appeal of the settlement and attorney fees amounts by two class members.

  • February 13, 2025

    Amici To High Court: DISH Entitled To Attorney Fees In Patent Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An advocacy group for patent holders tells the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus curiae brief that DISH Network LLC was entitled to attorney fees it incurred in a trial in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board while also litigating related claims in a Delaware federal court; the group echoes the company’s argument that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals created a circuit split in affirming the denial of fees.

  • February 13, 2025

    Triable Issues Exist As To Whether Insurer Paid Attorney Fees As Part Of Settlement

    LOS ANGELES — A California appeals panel held that there are triable issues regarding whether a plaintiff insurer paid any of tenants’ attorney fees as part of the settlement of an underlying lawsuit alleging substandard conditions at the insured’s 28-unit apartment building, reversing the lower court’s judgment as to the summary adjudication of the plaintiff insurer’s claims for declaratory relief and reimbursement of alleged attorney fees that it paid in the underlying settlement, vacating the award and affirming the judgment in all other respects.

  • February 12, 2025

    Fortra Data Breach MDL Judge OK’s 1 Settlement, Stays Case For Global Settlement

    MIAMI — The Florida federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation over a 2023 software app data breach granted final approval to the settlement of one of the MDL’s tracks on Feb. 11, while staying proceedings for the remaining parties while details of an announced global settlement are finalized.

  • February 12, 2025

    Federal Judge Grants Final Approval To Settlement In Six Flags Stock-Drop Suit

    FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal judge in Texas granted final approval of a $40 million settlement in a case brought against Six Flags Entertainment Corp. and two of its former senior executives by stockholders who alleged that Six Flags violated federal securities law by issuing alleged misrepresentations regarding the company’s theme park expansion in China.

  • February 12, 2025

    Final Attorney Fees Award Granted In Decade-Old Defective Flooring Class Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — More than four years after a class action settlement over defective bamboo flooring sold by Lumber Liquidators Inc. received final approval, a California federal judge granted a motion by class counsel for a final attorney fees award of $863,919.82, representing 25% of the value of store vouchers redeemed by class members in the last two years.

  • February 12, 2025

    Panel Reverses Attorney Fees Award In Octogenarian’s Bad Faith Suit Over Hail Damage

    FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas appeals panel reversed and remanded a trial court’s award of appellate attorney fees in favor of an octogenarian insured in her bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for her roof damage caused by hail and wind and affirmed the remainder of the lower court’s judgment, finding that the evidence was sufficiently strong to support the jury's conclusion that the insurer knowingly took advantage of the insured’s “‘lack of knowledge, ability, experience, or capacity . . . to a grossly unfair degree.’”

  • February 11, 2025

    Enforcement Of Settlement, Attorney Fees In GoDaddy TCPA Class Case Denied

    MOBILE, Ala. — A federal judge in Alabama denied a motion to enforce a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class settlement with GoDaddy.com LLC, writing that the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a July 2024 opinion vacated the District Court’s settlement approval as well as its ruling on attorney fees, clearing the way for the web hosting company to terminate the agreement.

  • February 10, 2025

    Florida Panel Upholds Ruling Denying Attorney Fees In Auto Claim Coverage Dispute

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.  — Without providing explanation, a Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court’s ruling denying an insured’s motion for attorney fees in an auto insurance coverage dispute where the lower court found that the insured was not entitled to attorney fees because the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) “did not affirmatively deny the claim.”

  • February 10, 2025

    Wisconsin High Court Deems Attorney Fees Appeal Untimely In Divorce Proceedings

    MADISON, Wis. — Per Wisconsin case law, a Wisconsin Supreme Court majority found that a trial court’s spousal support order constituted a final ruling in a divorce-related lawsuit, despite a subsequent attorney fees ruling, making an ex-husband’s appeal of the fees judgment untimely.

  • February 05, 2025

    6th Circuit: Kentucky Colonel Trademark Contempt Appeal Can Continue

    CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 4 denied a motion from the organization that holds trademarks related to the honorary title of “Kentucky Colonel” to dismiss an appeal brought by a pro se appellant held in contempt by a Kentucky federal judge for failing to comply with a permanent injunction barring him from using the mark, but the panel told the appellant that he would be afforded no more extensions of time to file his opening brief.

  • February 05, 2025

    9th Circuit: Former Church Member Lost License To Share Teachings In 2021

    SEATTLE — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with a Washington federal judge that a former member of a Seattle-based religious community did not breach a licensing agreement by uploading copyrighted church materials after the 1999 death of the organization’s founder but reversed the judge’s finding that the license was terminated in 2021.

  • February 04, 2025

    Florida Judge Gives Final OK To $6.8 Million Settlement Of Hospital Data Breach Row

    TAMPA, Fla. — A $6.8 million settlement of class claims over a hospital’s 2023 data breach achieved final approval from a Florida judge on Feb. 3, with attorney fees, costs and service awards also getting the thumbs up.

  • February 04, 2025

    Nicaragua Can’t Use Email, WhatsApp To Serve Debtors Owing $1.5M In Attorney Fees

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied a motion by the Republic of Nicaragua for leave to use alternative service to serve respondents abroad against whom it seeks to enforce an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award worth more than $1.5 million in attorney fees for an oil investment arbitration it won, writing that Nicaragua did not prove that such service was warranted.

  • February 04, 2025

    9th Circuit Upholds Attorney Fees, Costs In 1 Of Several Related Labeling Cases

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an award of more than $7.9 million in attorney fees and expenses for class counsel in one of several related single-state class lawsuits over the labeling of a glucosamine and chondroitin product, finding that the evidence supported the trial court’s determination that fees were related to the class’s success and the defendant failed to undermine class counsel’s representation that all work performed for the other cases was excluded from its calculations.

  • February 03, 2025

    Judgment Of Over $4M Issued In Coverage Row Involving Murdaugh Housekeeper Estate

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — A South Carolina federal court clerk on Jan. 31 filed a judgment reflecting a judge’s orders awarding $3.75 million in treble damages, $289,616.63 in attorney fees and costs of $7,625.72 to an insurer after a South Carolina jury returned a $1.25 million verdict in favor of the insurer in its suit seeking a declaration that it is entitled to recover the $3.8 million it paid to settle a claim brought by the estate of Alex Murdaugh’s former housekeeper.

  • January 31, 2025

    Judge Grants Final Approval Of $22M Settlement In Block.one EOS Securities Case

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted final approval of a $22 million settlement in a class action accusing a company that promised that it would develop a software program enabling the creation of novel EOS cryptocurrency blockchain technologies of making “a host of materially false and misleading statements to induce investors to purchase EOS Securities” and failing to register its initial coin offering (ICO).

  • January 31, 2025

    Nevada Supreme Court Affirms Attorney Fees Following Car Accident Verdict

    CARSON CITY, Nev. — The Nevada Supreme Court has affirmed attorney fees awarded to a plaintiff injured in a car accident, finding that a trial judge did not improperly rely on prelitigation settlement demands and did not “rubber stamp” the plaintiff’s request before awarding fees.

  • January 31, 2025

    Oklahoma High Court: Prevailing Insureds Don’t Have To Put Loss On Paper

    OKLAHOMA CITY — A unanimous Oklahoma Supreme Court says a trial court erred in ruling that insureds whose home suffered storm damage had to submit a written proof of loss to insurer State Farm to seek attorney fees after winning a $750,000 jury verdict.

  • January 30, 2025

    Federal Judge Approves Catholic University’s $2M Pandemic Closure Settlement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia issued two orders, one granting final approval of a $2 million class settlement to be paid by The Catholic University of America to end a student’s claims over the school’s closure during the start of the coronavirus pandemic and the second awarding class counsel $666,666.66 in attorney fees and $132,048.14 in costs and the class representative $7,500 for a service award.