June 24, 2019
A Boston federal judge heard arguments Monday on whether to reduce a $75 million attorney fee award for three firms that brokered a $300 million class action settlement with State Street Corp., saying the firms may have misled him about how fees are typically calculated in massive deals like this one.
January 09, 2019
A retired judge hired by Labaton Sucharow LLP to look into the $4 million the firm paid lawyer Damon Chargois in "referral fees" in cases where he did no work concluded in a report filed Tuesday that the deal was "unique and aberrational," a finding Labaton praised.
November 20, 2018
A special master appointed by a Massachusetts federal judge to investigate the billing practices of law firms that helped secure a $300 million settlement with State Street reiterated his opinion Tuesday that Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP and Thornton Law Firm LLP should pay disgorgement and other penalties.
November 07, 2018
A Massachusetts federal judge overseeing an investigation into improper billing practices by three law firms said Wednesday that he is considering asking Garrett Bradley, the managing partner of Thornton Law Firm LLP and a former state representative, to testify in the case.
October 31, 2018
Labaton Sucharow LLP told a Massachusetts federal judge Tuesday to approve its proposed resolution to the bitter State Street settlement fee fight or said the law firm would revert to its earlier position objecting to a special master's report and pursue further litigation.
October 19, 2018
Nearly one-third of Labaton Sucharow LLP's open cases came to the firm through referral arrangements, according to a filing Thursday in Massachusetts federal court, offering a peek behind the curtain as the firm faces scrutiny for a payment to a Texas attorney uncovered in the ongoing State Street settlement fee fight.
October 11, 2018
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP told a Massachusetts federal judge late Thursday it should not have to continue paying for a multimillion-dollar probe into a $75 million attorney fee awarded following a settlement with State Street Corp., arguing much of the money has been spent looking into conduct tied to its fellow class counsel, Labaton Sucharow LLP.
October 10, 2018
Labaton Sucharow LLP has apologized and will pay $4.8 million and accept oversight by a retired judge to resolve a Massachusetts federal court's investigation into the firm's excess fees and a controversial payment to a Texas lawyer, according to Wednesday court filings.
September 25, 2018
The Massachusetts federal judge overseeing a probe of an eight-figure plaintiff fee award in the $300 million State Street class action unsealed a report Tuesday saying a Texas lawyer and a former Arkansas state senator played a "significant role" in securing the case for plaintiffs firm Labaton Sucharow LLP.
September 19, 2018
The special master appointed to investigate a $75 million attorneys' fee awarded in a $300 million settlement with State Street Corp. has reached a tentative agreement with the lead class counsel, Labaton Sucharow LLP, and Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawyers involved in the case, according to a filing late Tuesday in Massachusetts federal court.