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9th Circuit Bases Attorney Fees On What Class-Action Clients Get In Hand
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit made clear its view — that class-action plaintiffs' lawyers generally should not be awarded fees that exceed the amount their clients get from a settlement — as the court struck down a $1.7 million fee award in which a copyright plaintiffs' class received less than $53,000 in an infringement dispute settlement. Lowery v. Rhapsody International Inc., 22-15162.
The three-judge Ninth Circuit panel said the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California wrongly calculated fees for plaintiffs' counsel in the copyright case based on a settlement that had provided for a fund of up to $20 million for class payouts. The district court should have instead looked at the amount actually obtained by those who made claims, here $52,841.05, the Ninth Circuit decided.
Circuit Judge Kenneth Lee, writing for the appellate panel, said the $1.7 million award is one that will "likely make the average person shake her head in disbelief."
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