Mealey's Attorney Fees : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Attorney Fees

May 20, 2025
Fighting Fees, NFL Plan Urges 5th Circuit To Say Disability Claimant Had No Success

NEW ORLEANS — In its appellant brief urging the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse an award of more than $1.25 million in attorney fees and costs, the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan called the award “an unprecedented expansion of the availability of attorney’s fees to ERISA litigants who do not succeed on any legal claim and obtain no judicial relief.”
May 20, 2025
Judge Denies Attorney Fees To Activist Who Posted Hunter Biden Files

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on May 19 denied a motion for attorney fees filed by a conservative activist and his organization against whom Hunter Biden had brought claims for violation of computer fraud laws and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) after they posted data from Biden’s laptop online, finding after the voluntary dismissal of Biden’s claims that fees were not warranted.
May 20, 2025
$6 Million Settlement Of Class Suit Over Union’s Data Breach Gets Final Approval

NEW YORK — Two union members were granted final approval of class negligence and breach of contract claims against a labor union over a 2023 data breach, with a New York federal judge deeming the $6 million settlement to be preferable to the expenses and “uncertainties of continued litigation.”
May 20, 2025
Review Of Attorney Fee Denial Sought After USDA Program Repeal Moots Bias Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Tennessee farmer filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking consideration of two questions regarding the scope of “substantially justified” conduct under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) and strict scrutiny standard applicable to race discrimination after a split Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed denial of his request for attorney fees in a case in which the farmer secured a preliminary injunction freezing a U.S. Department of Agriculture debt-relief program but then entered a stipulation of dismissal after the challenged program was repealed.
May 20, 2025
3rd Circuit Affirms Prevailing Plaintiff Ruling, Splits On Attorney Fee Amount

PHILADELPHIA — Noting that after Lackey v. Stinnie, “it bears repeating” that “a plaintiff who vindicates a statutory right under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) . . . is a prevailing party entitled to collect attorneys’ fees,” a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel unanimously affirmed that a plaintiff was entitled to attorney fees but split over whether the trial court erred in reducing the fees based on the limited relief the plaintiff obtained.
May 19, 2025
Panel Reverses Judgment For Insurer In Hurricane Damage Dispute Over Attorney Fees

LAKELAND, Fla. — In a dispute over coverage for hurricane damage, a Florida appeals court on May 16 reversed and remanded a lower court’s ruling providing that pursuant to Florida law, the insurer was entitled to recover attorney fees and costs from the date of a settlement proposal rejected by a restoration services company, finding that the lower court erred in not applying binding Florida Supreme Court precedent.
May 19, 2025
Judgment Proposal, Fee Request Are Disputed In ERISA Spinoff Benefits Case

PHILADELPHIA — Following a bench trial and numerous posttrial rulings in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over corporate restructuring that affected retirement benefits, the parties are briefing disputes over the plaintiffs’ proposed final judgment, with their disagreements generally centering on whether certain groups of employees are included in the certified class.
May 16, 2025
Attorney Fees Motion Deemed Premature After Defense Verdict In Pandemic Policy Case

ST. LOUIS — A federal judge in Missouri found premature an employee’s pro se motion to block any request for attorney fees or sanctions after a jury returned a verdict for her employer in her lawsuit challenging the organization’s pandemic policies.
May 15, 2025
Federal Judge Says Permit Limitations Valid In Denying Reconsideration In CWA Case

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge in California denied a motion filed by two cities to reconsider several orders granting relief in favor of an environmental organization that sued them for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) through the discharge of bacteria pollution from stormwater sewage systems, stating that the cities “may not collaterally attack the validity of the permit limitations.”
May 14, 2025
3rd Circuit: Attorney Fees Valid Under Lanham Act In Robotics Company Squabble

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge correctly dismissed one contract claim but was wrong to dismiss another in a dispute involving the intellectual property rights of two robotics ventures and an early investor whose relationship with the ventures later soured, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held.
May 14, 2025
Attorney Fees Clarified In Clearview Settlement While Objectors Appeal

CHICAGO — Almost two months after final approval was granted to a settlement of claims against the creator and curator of a massive digital photo database under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), the Illinois federal judge who presided over the consolidated class action granted the plaintiffs’ unopposed motion for amended judgment, clarifying that she also approved their request for an award of attorney fees.
May 13, 2025
2nd Circuit: No Abuse Of Discretion In Uniform Reduction Of Attorney Fees

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined that a district court’s application of a uniform 25% reduction to both pre-verdict and post-verdict attorney fees was not an abuse of discretion because the uniform reduction accounted for the limited success at trial of an individual who brought a civil rights action against police officers.
May 13, 2025
After LTD Case Remand To Plan, Parties Dispute Attorney Fee Request

SAN FRANCISCO — Parties in a long-term disability (LTD) benefits case are disputing a $139,650 attorney fee request, with the claimant contending that “a remand for further administrative proceedings is not a trivial success where it is based on a court determination that ERISA rights were violated,” and the defendant arguing in part that no award is warranted under Hummel v. S.E. Rykoff & Co.
May 09, 2025
Philadelphia Inquirer Users Will Receive $27.30 Each To Settle VPPA, Wiretap Suit

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge decreed the settlement of class claims against the Philadelphia Inquirer LLC under the Video Protection Privacy Act (VPPA) and a state wiretap law to be “fair, reasonable, and adequate,” granting final approval to the agreement, under which the newspaper operator will pay more than $1.1 million to cover class members’ claims, costs and attorney fees.
May 09, 2025
7th Circuit Affirms Attorney Fee Denial; Case Never Found A Prevailing Party

ST. LOUIS — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has affirmed a federal district court order denying a motion to find a video gaming company the prevailing party in a dispute because the lower court never reached the merits of the underlying breach-of-contract case.
May 09, 2025
Magistrate Would Dismiss STD Benefits Case As Moot But Let Claimant Seek Fees

CINCINNATI — Defendants that voluntarily reversed the challenged termination of short-term disability (STD) benefits and paid up after being sued could still be liable for attorney fees under the recommendation an Ohio federal magistrate judge issued in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act case.
May 08, 2025
Federal Circuit: Appellants Could Face Sanctions In IP Fight For Faulty Briefing

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Attorneys for two companies that appealed nearly $4 million in judgments against them in a decade-long intellectual property dispute over hookless shower curtains could face sanctions, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said in a sua sponte order, if they cannot show how they have not repeatedly violated circuit rules by inappropriately separating arguments between the companies’ respective briefs.
May 07, 2025
Final Approval Given To $9 Million Settlement Of Parking App Data Breach Suit

ATLANTA — Six months after a Georgia federal judge preliminarily approved a $9 million settlement of a class action over a 2021 data breach experienced by the operator of mobile parking apps, he granted a motion for final approval of the deal on May 6, finding it to be “fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class.”
May 07, 2025
8th Circuit Won’t Reverse Noninfringement Finding In Website Building Suit

ST. LOUIS — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the findings of a Missouri federal judge and a federal jury in a sprawling dispute over copyrighted code between two companies owned by members of the same family, along with multiple veterinary companies whose websites were built by a defendant printing company; the panel agreed with the judge’s decision to find in favor of the defendants on copyright infringement claims.
May 07, 2025
5th Circuit Won’t Dismiss Attorney Fee Appeal In ERISA Disability Benefits Dispute

NEW ORLEANS — Without explanation, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel denied a former National Football League player’s motion to dismiss the Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Player Retirement Plan’s appeal of an award of more than $1.25 million in attorney fees and costs.
May 07, 2025
Final Approval Granted To $362.5M Settlement In Securities Action Against GE

NEW YORK — A $362.5 million settlement between General Electric Co. and investors who alleged that the company violated federal securities laws in relation to its representations regarding its power division’s factoring of long-term receivables was given final approval by a federal judge in New York.
May 06, 2025
R.I. High Court Upholds Attorney Fees Award In Suit Over Open Meeting Access

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Rhode Island Supreme Court affirmed a trial court’s ruling granting an individual $2,500 in attorney fees after the lower court determined that a fire district violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) by holding a public meeting online and not allowing remote viewers to participate in real time.
May 06, 2025
Final Approval Granted In North Carolina Class Suit Over Health System Data Breach

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A North Carolina business court judge granted a motion for final approval of a $1.17 million settlement of negligence and privacy class claims over a May 2023 data breach experienced by a health care organization.
May 06, 2025
Georgia Enacts Measure Changing Discovery, Damages In Injury, Death Actions

ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a wide-ranging bill substantially amending how the state’s courts handle civil practice, discovery and tort liability in the state; the measure stays discovery when a party moves for dismissal prior to filing an answer, limits the ability of injured parties to argue at trial about the amount of noneconomic damages in bodily injury and wrongful death cases and limits the recovery of attorney fees.
May 05, 2025
Judge OKs $20M Settlement, $5M Attorney Fees In Apple Watch Swelling Case

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted final approval to a $20 million settlement between Apple Inc. and plaintiffs who sought damages due to a battery swelling defect with early-model Apple Watches that in some cases caused watch screens to detach or shatter and also granted the plaintiffs’ motion for $5 million in attorney fees and nearly a half-million dollars in litigation expenses.