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Mealey's Attorney Fees

  • November 20, 2024

    Plaintiffs Who Persuaded Jury In Microcaptive Row Lose Attorney Fee Bid

    FORT MYERS, Fla. — Saying that the government’s “inability to convince the jury of the merits of its case does not change the substantial justification of its position,” a Florida federal judge on Nov. 19 denied the corporate plaintiffs’ motion for approximately $600,000 in attorney fees and costs in consolidated cases where they successfully challenged penalties imposed because the Internal Revenue Service deemed their involvement with purported microcaptive insurance companies to be promotion of abusive tax shelters.

  • November 20, 2024

    Federal Circuit Vacates Attorney Fees Denial In Failed Vaccine Act Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A special master abused his discretion when he ruled in a National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (Vaccine Act) case that a special master’s decision in Boatmon v. Sec’y of Health & Hum. Servs. regarding a pathologist’s model linking vaccines and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) did not support a finding of reasonable basis, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals opined, vacating the denial of an attorney fees request by a father who sued following his son’s death and later voluntarily dismissed his claim when the model was found to be “unreliable.”

  • November 20, 2024

    Final Approval Given To $115 Million Settlement Of Oracle Data Collection Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — A $115 million settlement of privacy class claims over data collection and brokerage activities conducted by Oracle America Inc. was found to provide “substantial benefits” to the class by a California federal judge, who granted final approval of the settlement over 28 objections received by class members.

  • November 18, 2024

    Class Settlement, Separate Fee Award Approved In ERISA Statements Penalty Case

    TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — An Alabama federal judge approved a $253,700 class settlement and a separate award of $265,000 for attorney fees and costs in what the plaintiffs said “appears to be the first ever class-wide settlement for penalties related to a defendant’s failure to provide annual pension benefit statements to participants” under a provision of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • November 18, 2024

    Service Awards, Attorney Fees At Issue In Meta Privacy Suit Certiorari Petition

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) and a group of Facebook users who sued over the social network’s tracking of their online activity were both given additional time by the U.S. Supreme Court to respond to a petition for certiorari by a class member who objects to awards for attorney fees and class representative service awards that were part of a $90 million settlement of the privacy class action.

  • November 15, 2024

    Correction Of $92M Attorney Fee Sought In Insurers’ ACA Dispute With Government

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Objecting class members and class counsel on Nov. 14 urged the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to correct the $92,424,335.84 judgment awarded to class counsel in a risk-corridor payment dispute under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), with class counsel arguing that the attorney fee owed to it should come from the nondispute subclasses

  • November 14, 2024

    Class, Wawa Ask 3rd Circuit To Affirm Attorney Fees Award In Data Breach Suit

    PHILADELPHIA — Wawa Inc. and a group of consumers who sued it over a 2019 data breach filed briefs with the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals defending a $3 million attorney fees award that is part of a $9 million class action settlement agreement, asserting that the award was not the product of collusion and satisfies Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 and asking the court to affirm the award and to reject objections a class member raises on his second appeal of the matter.

  • 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.