“Except in extraordinary cases, a fee award should not exceed the value that the litigation provided to the class,” wrote Judge Kenneth Lee for a panel that also included Judges Milan Smith and Daniel Collins. In almost all cases, the appeals court said, the payout to class members should serve as a ceiling for attorneys’ fees, even if the fees are being paid by defendants instead of class members. No matter how much time and effort class counsel sink into the litigation – and no matter the size of the theoretical fund from which class payouts can be made – trial courts must begin their fee analysis by focusing on how much money class members actually received in the settlement, the 9th Circuit ruled on Wednesday in Lowery v.
Circuit, you’d better not expect to be paid more in fees than your clients took home.
(Reuters) - Class action plaintiffs' lawyers are now officially on notice: If you are litigating in the 9th U.S.
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