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

Mealey's Attorney Fees

September 05, 2025
Class Settlement Wins Final Approval In ERISA Case Over Alleged Cost-Shifting

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge granted final approval to a class settlement that resolves a long-running Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over an alleged cost-shifting scheme concerning health plan administrative fees for chiropractic and physical therapy treatment; the deal includes gross amounts of $4.8 million for members of individual and plan classes and a separate $3.55 million for attorney fees and costs.
September 05, 2025
9th Circuit Transfers Fee Issue In Facebook Cybersquatting Trademark Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — Without providing explanation, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a motion filed by Instagram LLC and Facebook Inc., now known as Meta Platforms Inc., (collectively, Meta) to transfer consideration of attorney fees on appeal to a district court in Meta’s trademark infringement suit against multiple Chinese-based companies for their alleged cybersquatting by using domain names purportedly infringing on Meta’s trademarks.
September 03, 2025
Briefly: Class Seeks Approval Of $15M Deal In Securities Fraud Case About Pipeline

PHILADELPHIA — The lead plaintiffs in a long and winding securities fraud class action related to the construction of a hydraulic fracturing pipeline on Sept. 2 filed a brief in Pennsylvania federal court seeking final approval of a class action settlement for a cash payment of $15 million.
September 02, 2025
Hawaii Supreme Court: Company Director Is Due Indemnification, Fees On Fees

HONOLULU — In answering two questions of first impression, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that a director of a development company is due indemnification and recovery of “fees on fees” for his challenge of the company’s loyalty clause in the context of conflict of interest.
September 02, 2025
1st Circuit: Consumers Didn’t Prevail In Antitrust Litigation, Aren’t Due Fees

BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said that two consumers who sued to block the merger of two airlines are not prevailing parties because the merger was enjoined through a lawsuit brought by the federal government and several states.
September 02, 2025
Judge Trims Attorney Fees, Prejudgment Interest Rate In LTD Lawsuit

NEW YORK — Saying in part that the requested 21.8% prejudgment interest rate “is far outside the norm in this District,” a New York federal judge awarded modified amounts totaling $230,083.65 for attorney fees and $139,497.54 for prejudgment interest in a long-term disability (LTD) case in which the claimant won $928,954.90 in retroactive benefits.
September 02, 2025
3rd Circuit: NFL Player’s Attorney Gets Costs, No Fees After Concussion Settlement

PHILADELPHIA — A retired National Football League (NFL) player’s former counsel is entitled to costs only, not fees, for its efforts in representing the players in a now-settled concussion injury multidistrict litigation, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a special master’s recommendation that was adopted by a trial court judge.
September 02, 2025
Panel Affirms Ruling Denying Attorney Fees Request In Dispute With Property Insurer

MIAMI — A Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court order denying attorney fees to a homeowner who previously obtained final judgment in her favor in a coverage dispute with her property insurer, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which describes itself on its website as Florida’s “insurer of last resort,” citing case law affirming lower court orders where an appellant failed to appropriately raise issues before the trial court.
September 02, 2025
Judge Approves $3.1M Deli Meat Class Settlement, $1.03M In Attorney Fees

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A New York federal judge granted final approval of a $3.1 million class settlement in a Boar’s Head lunch meat listeria contamination case and approved a motion for $1.03 million in class counsel fees for six plaintiff law firms.
August 29, 2025
After Fraud Suit Cert Denial, Judge Won’t Toss Attorney Fee Order For Over $1M

PORT HURON, Mich. — Approximately 10 months after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari by the owner of medical clinics in State Farm’s no-fault fraud and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) suit against him and related parties, a Michigan federal judge denied the owner’s motion for relief from a district court order awarding $1,271,937.23 in attorney fees and $2,855.27 in costs against him, finding no neglect on the part of the owner’s former counsel.
August 29, 2025
$2.8B Provider Class Settlement With Blue Cross Insurers Wins Final Approval

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Attorneys for an opt-out health care provider class were granted their requested $657,160,000 for fees and $102,059,478.49 for expenses in a $2.8 billion settlement that also provides “extraordinary injunctive relief,” an Alabama federal judge said in granting final approval to the deal in a multidistrict antitrustcase against the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and its member plans (collectively, BCBSA or the Blues).
August 29, 2025
$8.5M Settlement OK’d In Worker’s Suit Alleging Calif. Wage-And-Hour Violations

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California granted final approval of an $8.5 million class and representative settlement, ending wage-and-hour claims brought by one employee under California law against an engineering conglomerate accused of failing to provide meal and rest breaks, overtime and minimum wages and expenses.
August 28, 2025
5th Circuit: Reinsurer’s Late Notice Of Litigation Constitutes Prejudice

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a Texas federal court’s ruling in a reinsurer’s appeal of a $2,866,423.97 judgment that includes attorney fees, ruling that an insurer’s months-late notice of its involvement in underlying class action litigation constituted a material breach of its quota share treaty with the reinsurer and violated the contract’s notice provision, depriving the reinsurer of its right to participate in the defense and establishing prejudice as a matter of law.
August 27, 2025
2 Class Settlements Totaling $60 Million Get Final OK In Church Plan Suit

JACKSON, Tenn. — A Tennessee federal judge has granted final approval to class settlements initially grossing $60 million before interest in multidistrict litigation over a religious denomination’s retirement plan, also awarding attorney fees of a third of that amount and a $20,000 service award to each of the 10 named plaintiffs; claims against numerous nonsettling defendants remain.
August 25, 2025
Judge Grants Contractor, Homebuilder’s Motion For Attorney Fees

ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida adopted a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation granting a general contractor and homebuilder’s motions for entitlement to attorney fees following a summary judgment ruling in their favor in a commercial liability insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaration as to coverage for construction-related damages at a condominium development.
August 25, 2025
Mining Company Must Pay Mexico’s Attorney Fees After Consolidation Denied

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a split consolidation tribunal’s order rejecting the United Mexican States’ request to consolidate two arbitration claims brought against it by a Canadian mining investor and ordering the investor to pay Mexico more than $632,000 in attorney fees, citing the fact that it seeks to withdraw its second claim after more than a year of consolidation proceedings.
August 22, 2025
11th Circuit: Traveler Prevailed In Confiscation Case, Is Due Fees, Costs

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed denial of a motion for attorney fees and costs, finding that an air traveler who had $8,500 confiscated by federal agents “substantially prevailed” in his effort to claim the money after the government voluntarily dismissed the case.
August 22, 2025
Alaska High Court: Full Attorney Fees Not Due Absent Constitutional Ruling

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court ruling that the owners of oil and gas leases are not due their full attorney fees for challenging the release of data about nearby oil and gas wells, agreeing that under state law, the appellants did not invoke a constitutional issue and that they were due only a standard 20% fee.
August 20, 2025
No Fees For Publisher That Overcame Copyright Judgment Before 5th Circuit

AUSTIN, Texas — Adopting a federal magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, a Texas federal judge denied attorney fees to a publishing company that saw the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacate a summary judgment of copyright infringement against it after a panel held that the Canadian civil codes it was accused of illegally copying were effectively uncopyrightable “law” in the country.
August 20, 2025
10th Circuit Affirms $62,430 Fee Award, Other Rulings Against Pro Se Appellant

DENVER — Issuing an unpublished order on two appeals that sprang from the same case, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal and summary judgment rulings against a man who filed a pro se suit over the fallout from an externship he took part in after suffering a stroke as a law student; the panel also upheld an order requiring the man to pay one defendant $62,430 for attorney fees, which was half of what the defendant had sought.
August 20, 2025
College Gets Final OK To Settle Data Breach Suit For Up To $3,500 Per Person

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Almost five months after preliminarily approving the settlement of a putative class action over a 2023 data breach experienced by an upstate New York college, a New York federal judge granted final approval to the settlement, which boasts an uncapped settlement with an estimated value of $44,720,782.68, including out-of-pocket expenses, credit monitoring and injunctive relief in the form of enhanced data privacy measures on the school’s part.
August 19, 2025
Federal Judge Again Finds Contempt In Long-Running Jarred Sauce Trademark Row

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge held the owners of a city pizzeria named Patsy’s Pizzeria and their counsel in contempt in a long-simmering trademark infringement dispute over packaged sauces launched in 1999 by another New York restaurant, Patsy’s Italian Restaurant, after they again violated an injunction by applying for “Patsy’s” marks.
August 19, 2025
Tribunal Improperly Awarded $46M, Including $20M In Attorney Fees, Company Says

NEW YORK — In a fiery petition to vacate an International Chamber Commerce (ICC) award filed in New York federal court on Aug. 18, a Mexican construction company says the tribunal’s $46 million award against it and in favor of Honeywell International Inc. and its subsidiary was improper on numerous grounds, including that the tribunal failed to properly explain an “offensive” $20.9 million award of attorney fees and costs.
August 18, 2025
Panel Affirms Coverage Issue, Reverses Attorney Fees Award In Injury Coverage Suit

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s judgment declaring that a subcontractor’s commercial general liability insurer has a duty to indemnify a property owner in an underlying personal injury lawsuit that occurred during construction at the premises but reversed the lower court’s award of attorney fees in favor of the property owner’s insurer.
August 18, 2025
5th Circuit Affirms Discovery Sanctions For Uninformed Deposition Witness

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has affirmed discovery sanctions, including $31,836.70 in attorney fees, against a Mexican national after the owner of a Texas home where the national lives responded to a deposition notice by sending a sales representative who couldn’t answer questions about the purchase of the home; in a separate but related appeal, the same panel affirmed the trial court’s denial of the national’s motion to quash a subpoena for foreign discovery.