Class Action Attorney Fee Digest Blawg

Class counsel getting less?

Wed, 7 Jul 2010 13:19:25 -0400

At Class Action Attorney Fee Digest, we attempt to report on as many class action attorney fee decisions as possible. Time and space constraints, along with whether we can find sufficient background information, determine the cases. Without claiming any statistical relevance, we do notice occasional trends.

Recently, more cases seem to involve class counsel seeking – or being awarded – less than their stated lodestar. (Note: we deduce multiplier information if we have class counsel’s lodestar, even if the fee was awarded on a percentage basis.)

Of the 900 cases reported to date, 747 had enough information for us to calculate a multiplier. Of those, 429 cases had positive multipliers and 318 had multipliers less than or equal to one (with six of those awarding exactly 1). We divided the cases into the year the fee was awarded. In the first six months of this year, it certainly seems as if class counsel more frequently is not recouping its lodestar.

Year Total Cases Multi. Multi. % cases
Fee Reported <=1 >1 w/Multi.
Awarded <=1
2006 56 26 30 46.43%
2007 225 87 138 38.67%
2008 196 84 112 42.86%
2009 205 84 121 40.98%
2010 65 37 28 56.92%
Total 747 318 429 42.57%

The Digest reaches 900 case milestone

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:34:27 -0400

Half-way through our fourth year of publishing, Class Action Attorney Fee Digest has reported on 900 cases. We provide as much information on each case as we are able to uncover.

In 753 cases, we quantified the settlement benefits and calculated the attorney fees awarded as a percentage of the settlement. The attorney fee percentages ranged from 2.9% to 67.53%. But, like any bell curve, only 25 were under 10% and only 7 were over 50%.

The cases involved antitrust, civil rights, consumer, employment (both discrimination and wages & benefits), environment, intellectual property, mass tort, and securities. For our regular subscribers, we publish occasional supplemental issues focusing on a single subject. Most recently, we looked at those cases that awarded a fee of 25% or higher.

Sometimes, a settlement does not lend itself to quantification (such as those requiring further disclosures to shareholders, revisions to certain business practices, and claims-made settlements).

Happy Summer

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 21:27:18 -0400

Stay cool.

Changes afoot in the business of class action claims administration

Wed, 9 Jun 2010 22:06:40 -0400

Kurtzman Carson Consultants LLC (“KCC”), a Computershare company, recently announced that it has acquired the business of Rosenthal & Company, a Novato, California firm that specializes in administering class action settlements. KCC Class Action Services is currently engaged in the business of pre-settlement consulting, class member management, legal notification, call center support, and claims administration, disbursement, and tax issues. The full press release can be found at: http://www.kccllc.com/news/releases/050310.aspx.

In February, 2010, KCC announced that it has consolidated its class action notice and claims administration operations with Computershare’s Administar business. See full press release at http://www.kccllc.com/news/releases/020110.aspx.

In addition to KCC, other major class action settlement/notice administration firms include:
(1) AB Data, Ltd. [www.abdataclassaction.com]
(2) Analytics, Inc. [www.classadmin.com]
(3) Berdon Claims Administration LLC [berdonclaims.com]
(4) Desmond Marcello & Amster [www.dmaclassaction.com]
(5) The Garden City Group, Inc. [www.gardencitygroup.com]
(6) Gilardi & Co. LLC [www.gilardi.com]
(7) Heffler, Radetich & Saitta LLP [www.hrsclaimsadministration.com]
(8) Strategic Claims Services [www.strategicclaims.net]

Class Action Notice on Craigslist

Wed, 2 Jun 2010 07:17:06 -0400

In a case from state court in Michigan involving a consumer complaint for contaminated automotive fluid, class counsel served as the claims administrator. They published notice in a variety of local newspapers and on Craigslist. This is the first occurrence of a Craigslist notice that we have seen.

Notice gets more and more creative.