Federal Appellate Courts Rejecting Lower Court Awards Of Attorneys' Fees In Class Actions

Friends of Ours ^ | 07/15/12 | Friends of Ours

[AtlasStalled]

Federal appellate courts across the country increasingly are reversing settlement agreements and fee applications approved by the lower court judges in class action cases.

On Friday the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a deal which awarded $2 million in attorneys' fees to the plaintiffs' lawyers but provided the class members -- consumers who purchased Frosted Mini-Wheats after an ad campaign by Kellogg claiming the cereal improved children's attentiveness -- with only "a 'paltry' $5 a box for up to three boxes" as reported by Maura Dolan for the Los Angeles Times. Writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, Judge Stephen S. Trott held:

"[T]he $2 million award of attorneys' fees is unreasonable. Indeed, because the settlement grants counsel 'a disproportionate distribution of the settlement' compared with the benefit to the class, it is possible the settlement was 'driven by fees.' * * * [T]he $2 million fee award breaks out to just over $2,100 per hour. Not even the most highly sought after attorneys charge such rates to their clients."

Download Kellogg Decision

Last month a unanimous three-judge panel from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals put the kibosh on a derivative action brought on behalf of shareholders by the law firms Vianale & Vianale and Sarraf Gentile against retailing giant Sears as reported by Daniel Fisher for Forbes. In an opinion written by Judge Frank H. Easterbrook the appellate court held "this litigation is so feeble that it is best to end it immediately," and "the only goal of this suit appears to be fees for the plaintiffs' lawyers."

Download Sears Decision

Critics of class actions often argue that the cases serve as little more than vehicles by which the plaintiffs' lawyers get rich, and often the district judges do little in protecting the interests of the class members when approving the settlement agreements and fee applications; however, the two above decisions suggest that the appellate courts no longer may be willing to allow the district judges to rubber stamp the deals with gratuitous recitations of the governing standards.

Further reading that may be of interest:

Congress Must Investigate The Trial Lawyers

[jdsteel]

“Critics of class actions often argue that the cases serve as little more than vehicles by which the plaintiffs’ lawyers get rich”

Gee, ya think???

[AtlasStalled]

There obviously are some class actions which are clearly deserving in which the plaintiffs lawyers work hard for justice on behalf of their clients but so many other cases just seem laughable to me, and the hunt for the green seems like the driving motivation.