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

Mealey's Attorney Fees

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.
January 30, 2025
$47.5M Settlement Between Battery Maker, Shareholders Granted Final Approval

SAN FRANCISCO — A $47.5 million settlement was granted final approval by a federal judge in California, concluding a case brought by shareholders against the developer of a “solid-state” electronic vehicle battery alleging that the developer violated federal securities laws by misrepresenting the progress and effectiveness of their batteries.
January 29, 2025
Final Approval Of $200M Settlement Granted In Uber IPO Misstatement Class Action

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California issued final approval of a $200 million settlement to end a class action lawsuit bought by investors against ride sharing company Uber Technologies Inc. and certain of its executives that claimed that the company issued a series of misleading statements in the lead-up to its May 2019 initial public offering (IPO).
January 29, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms Prevailing Party Designation In Appeal Of Attorney Fee Award

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal magistrate judge in California used the appropriate methodology to determine the prevailing party in a long-running breach of contract suit but erred in deeming certain claims that were not litigated at trial voluntarily abandoned, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in partly affirming and partly reversing and remanding an order awarding more than $4.35 million in attorney fees to a distributor of furniture protection products.
January 29, 2025
$4.5M Deal Gets Final OK In ERISA Lawsuit Over Proprietary Index Funds

NEW YORK — A New York federal magistrate judge has granted final approval to a $4.5 million class settlement in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case over the selection and retention of proprietary index fund products, awarding $1.5 million of that sum for attorney fees and a total of $45,000 for incentive awards.
January 29, 2025
Federal Judge Approves Alaska Airlines’ $4.75M USERRA Payless Leave Settlement

SPOKANE, Wash. — A federal judge in Washington granted final approval of a $4.75 million settlement between Alaska Airlines Inc., Horizon Air Industries Inc. and a class of commercial airline pilots who allege that they were denied pay during short-term military leaves; the agreement will result in a gross average of $8,928 per class member plus prospective relief.
January 28, 2025
Settlement With ‘Landmark’ Recovery In Mortality Table Row Wins Final Approval

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge on Jan. 27 granted final approval to a class settlement including what retirees said is a “landmark recovery” of $10 million in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over allegedly outdated mortality tables used to calculate joint and survivor annuity (JSA) benefits in two Citgo Petroleum Corp. pension plans; he also approved the separate $4.75 million agreement, of which $4,366,908.05 is for attorney fees, $308,091.95 is for expenses and $75,000 is for service awards.
January 28, 2025
Judge OKs $1.07 Million Settlement Of Pharmacy Service Data Breach Class Action

BOSTON — A proposed $1,075,000 settlement of class action negligence and breach of fiduciary duty claims over a pharmacy service’s 2021 data breach received final approval from a Massachusetts federal judge, who found that the agreement satisfied the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.
January 27, 2025
Oil, Gas Royalty Settlement Objectors Brief 10th Circuit On Attorney Fee Challenge

DENVER — A trial court in approving more than $17.3 million in attorney fees as part of a $52 million oil and gas royalty settlement ignored the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling in Strack v. Continental Resources, which requires percentage-based common fund fee awards to be tested by a lodestar cross-check, and failed to follow the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals mandate to apply controlling Oklahoma law, objectors argue in separate appellant briefs filed in the 10th Circuit.