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

Mealey's Attorney Fees

August 20, 2024
5th Circuit Affirms Attorney Fee Award But Cuts Amount Calculated Without Lodestar

NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the decision to award attorney fees for assertion of “frivolous” claims but reduced the total from $110,261.16 to $98,666.50 because part of the calculation was improper as “[o]ur precedent does not permit the district court to bypass the lodestar in that way.”
August 20, 2024
U.S. High Court: U.S. May Participate In Arguments Over Attorney Fees

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 19 granted a motion by the United States for leave to participate in and for divided argument in an appeal over preliminary injunctions and attorney fees after a divided Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Virginians were the prevailing parties in a putative class complaint over a now-repealed statute regarding the suspension of driver’s licenses.
August 20, 2024
Hedge Fund Manager Appeals Finding Of No Attorney Fees In SEC Enforcement

BOSTON — A hedge fund manager and his funds have appealed to the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a Massachusetts federal judge’s holding 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 SEC’s initial position was substantially justified.
August 20, 2024
5th Circuit Says Neither Party Prevailed In Contract Dispute; Fees, Costs Not Due

NEW ORLEANS — A split panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court ruling awarding $838,137.17 in attorney fees and costs in a contract dispute related to the construction of a hotel, concluding that neither party prevailed. While the majority found that neither party was entitled to fees and costs, the dissenting judge said the lower court correctly determined which party prevailed.
August 19, 2024
Firms Appeal Opioid MDL Attorney Fees Awards To 6th Circuit

CLEVELAND — Two law firms in the opioid multidistrict litigation centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio filed notice of an appeal to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after the judge overseeing the MDL rejected their objections to the final recommendations made by a fee panel to allocate $2.13 billion in attorney fees in connection with various settlements reached by the parties.
August 19, 2024
D.C. Circuit: No Award To Whistleblowing Lawyer Who Tipped Client To SEC

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel of judges in the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the Security and Exchange Commission’s decision to deny a whistleblower award to a company’s in-house attorney whose tip led to SEC enforcement action against the company and certain of its executives, with the panel holding in a June opinion that was unsealed Aug. 16 that the attorney’s tip was not made to serve his client’s interests.
August 19, 2024
Delaware High Court Affirms Attorney Fees in $1B Dell Securities Settlement

WILMINGTON, Del. — A unanimous Delaware Supreme Court upheld a vice chancellor’s award of $266.7 million in attorney fees to counsel for the lead plaintiff in a complaint brought by investors alleging that Dell Technologies Inc., certain of its controlling stockholders and directors, and its financial adviser breached their fiduciary duty by engaging in a stock swap that resulted in significant losses to investors, holding that the vice chancellor did not abuse his discretion in setting the award.
August 15, 2024
Magistrate Approves Fees In Data Breach Case Despite Initial, Inflated Calculation

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A federal magistrate judge in New York has granted a plaintiffs’ motion for attorney fees and costs following a $626,985.58 settlement in litigation over a data breach, ruling that although the plaintiffs’ initial calculation was “inflated,” the fees sought were “reasonable” based on other factors including the value of the multiplier applied to a recalculated amount of hours and billing rates, often referred as a “lodestar.”
August 15, 2024
Health Insurers, U.S. Government File Status Report In Dispute Over ACA Payments

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Health insurers and the U.S. government filed a joint status report in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims 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.
August 14, 2024
Bar Association, Other Amici Say Preliminary Injunction Enough For Attorney Fees

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the first of 10 amicus briefs supporting arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court by Virginians seeking attorney fees related to their putative class complaint over a now repealed suspension of driver’s licenses statute, the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) tells the justices that a merits-based preliminary injunction is enough to establish a “prevailing party” under federal fee-shifting statutes.
August 13, 2024
High Court Told Preliminary Injunction Is Sufficient Relief For Attorney Fees

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A preliminary injunction is “tangible relief” sufficient to determine a prevailing party, Virginians argue in a respondent brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court opposing a petitioner brief by the commissioner of the Viriginia Department of Motor Vehicles, who is challenging a ruling by a divided Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the Virginians were the prevailing parties in a putative class complaint over a now repealed statute regarding the suspension of driver’s licenses.
August 12, 2024
11th Circuit: No Fees In Trademark Dispute Over Use Of Florida’s Outline In Logos

ATLANTA — An 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 9 affirmed a Florida federal magistrate judge’s decision to deny attorney fees to a company that prevailed in a trademark infringement case over a restaurant it said infringed its trademarked logo designs, agreeing with the magistrate judge that the case does not reach the “exceptional” level required for attorney fees under the Lanham Act.
August 12, 2024
Reconsideration Of Attorney Fees Denied In Jack In The Box Workers’ Wage Suit

PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal judge in Oregon denied a motion by Jack in the Box Inc. workers to reconsider an April opinion, which partially granted and partially denied motions for attorney fees and costs by both sides in a wage-and-hour suit brought by a class of workers who saw some success with their claims, and apply a prime rate enhancement, opining that there was no showing of clear error or that the “decision was manifestly unjust.”
August 07, 2024
$9.39M White Castle Finger Scan Class Settlement Granted Final Approval

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted final approval to a $9,394,440 settlement to be paid by White Castle System Inc. to end a class complaint by an employee who alleged that the fast food company’s finger scan policy violated the Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
August 05, 2024
Nashville, Worker Found By Jury To Have Been Subjected To Bias Agree To Dismissal

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County in Tennessee and a deputy fire marshal found by a federal jury in that state in May to have been subjected to age and gender discrimination and retaliation and $225,000 for gender bias agreed to dismissal with prejudice and termination of all pending motions including the deputy fire marshal’s June motion for $309,950 in attorney fees.
August 05, 2024
Magistrate Rules On Attorney Fee Motions In Subcontractor’s Suit Under Miller Act

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A federal magistrate judge in Florida held that a contractor’s surety is entitled to attorney fees and expenses under a performance bond that was issued by a subcontractor’s surety and under Florida Statutes Section 627.756(1), recommending that the court partly grant the insurer’s motion for attorney fees and costs in the subcontractor’s lawsuit brought under the Miller Act seeking $295,871.34 under a payment bond for its pretermination work at a U.S. naval station.
August 01, 2024
ICSID Awards Panama $1.5M In Fees After Dismissing Biofuel Investor’s Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a tribunal’s award ordering a biofuel investor to pay the Republic of Panama roughly $1.5 million in attorney fees and arbitration costs after dismissing the investor’s claims for lack of jurisdiction because it failed to prove that it is controlled by Italian investors, noting that the investor “unreasonably delayed” proceedings with “untimely and unjustified requests.”
July 31, 2024
ABA Opinion Expands Guidance On Use Of Artificial Intelligence

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Bar Association set guidelines and standards for the use of generative artificial intelligence, including how to properly handle fees and saying lawyers should be prepared to stay abreast of the technology as it emerges, including its benefits and risks.
July 31, 2024
8th Circuit Reverses Attorney Fees Awarded In T-Mobile Data Breach Settlement

ST. LOUIS — A trial court abused its discretion in striking one of two objections to the $78.75 million attorney fees portion of a $350 million data breach class settlement between customers and T-Mobile US Inc., an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, opining that the fees awarded were “unreasonable.”
July 29, 2024
In Contamination Case, California Federal Judge Grants $2.5M In Fees, Costs

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Several months after two environmental groups settled Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) brought against a construction company that allegedly contaminated the area around one of its storage and service facilities with hazardous substances, a California federal judge found that the environmental groups are entitled to more than $2.5 million in attorney fees and costs.
July 26, 2024
Consumer Asks Court To Approve Settlement Removing ‘Natural’ From ChapStick Label

SAN FRANCISCO — A California woman filed a motion in California federal court for approval of a settlement of class claims against GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Holdings (US) LLC (GSK) and Pfizer Inc. for deceptively labeling certain ChapStick products, writing that the defendants have agreed to remove the phrase “100% Natural” from the product’s label and for her attorneys to receive roughly $500,000.
July 26, 2024
Default Judgment For Rapper On Copyright Claims On Hit Single Recommended

NEW YORK — A federal magistrate judge in New York on July 25 recommended the entry of default judgment against the rapper known as Tekashi 6ix9ine in a copyright dispute brought by a hip-hop producer who alleges that the rapper illegally used a recording copyrighted by the producer in a 2018 single that eventually went platinum, after the rapper failed to make any filings in the case for years.
July 26, 2024
Trustee Rejects Claim That Judge-Lawyer Relationship Didn’t Require Disclosure

HOUSTON — In a battle over fees awarded to a law firm in the Honx Inc. asbestos bankruptcy case, the trustee told the court that a relationship between one of the firm’s partners and a bankruptcy judge in the same district at the very least gives the appearance of partiality and the argument that the firm didn’t need to disclose the relationship is “astonishing.”
July 25, 2024
Judge Denies Fees In Copyright, Trade Secret Dispute Between Bronx Music Schools

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge denied a request by a music school and its founder for reimbursement of the attorney fees they incurred in successfully defending allegations of copyright infringement, unfair competition and trade secret misappropriation, overruling objections from the school and its founder that a federal magistrate judge erred in recommending that the motion be denied.
July 25, 2024
9th Circuit: Federal Judge Improperly Analyzed Candy Distributors’ Trademark Fight

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 24 partly reversed a California federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in a trademark dispute between two candy distributors, holding that the judge erred in determining that the plaintiff distributor failed to properly notify the defendant distributor that its allegations included the use of the mark “CANDY-GRAM,” leading the judge to improperly analyze the genericness only of the mark “CANDYGRAM” without a hyphen.