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Mealey's Attorney Fees

  • October 24, 2025

    Car Company Asks 9th Circuit To Rethink Fee Denial In Car Chase Film IP Dispute

    SAN FRANCISCO — A classic car company and its owners tell a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel that it erred when it denied the company’s request for attorney fees, arguing that the panel by necessity ruled on a breach of contract claim when it held in May that a Ford Mustang known as “Eleanor” in the film “Gone in 60 Seconds” is not a copyrightable character under a Ninth Circuit test.

  • October 23, 2025

    Utah Supreme Court Reverses $298K Attorney Fee Award Tied To Expired Judgment

    SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Supreme Court reversed an appeals court ruling that awarded $298,893.26 in contingency-based attorney fees in a decades-long insurance coverage dispute stemming from a fatal auto accident, holding that the underlying $747,233.15 damages judgment supporting the fee award had expired under Utah’s eight-year judgment-expiration statute and could not serve as the basis for recovery.

  • October 23, 2025

    U.K. Supreme Court Affirms 44.2M British Pounds Attorney Fees Award To Nigeria

    LONDON — The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom on Oct. 22 ruled that an Irish-owned company ordered to pay attorney fees to the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the costs it incurred obtaining the set-aside of an arbitral award worth more than $11 billion due to “fraud” was properly ordered to pay the more than 44.2 million pound award of fees and costs in British currency, not Nigerian naira.

  • October 23, 2025

    Judge Tosses Lawyer’s Suit Seeking Leave To Make Unlicensed NFL Shirts

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge dismissed a complaint brought by a self-described “‘annoyance lawyer’” against NFL Properties LLC (NFLP), exercising judicial discretion to decline to proceed with a complaint seeking a declaration that he can make T-shirts bearing various NFL trademarks without running afoul of federal trademark laws.

  • October 22, 2025

    Judge Approves $600,000 Pharmacy Data Breach Class Settlement

    TACOMA, Wash. — A federal judge in Washington granted final approval to a $600,000 settlement in a data breach case involving a pharmacy and found the $198,000 request for attorney fees reasonable.

  • October 22, 2025

    2nd Circuit Upholds Conviction, Fees In Mail Fraud Case Against Former Executive

    NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a New York federal court’s conviction of a former executive of a benefit management company, his 12-year prison sentence and orders that he must pay nearly $4.7 million in restitution, including $592,352 in attorney fees to the management company; the appellant was found guilty in October 2023 of mail fraud and related counts for running a fraudulent invoicing scheme against the company.

  • October 20, 2025

    J&J Spinoff Decries Law Firm’s Fee Request After Bankruptcy Case Dismissed

    HOUSTON — A law firm that once represented a committee of asbestos talc claimants who were opposed to the Chapter 11 plan of reorganization for the latest Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff, Red River Talc LLC, cannot seek compensation from the bankruptcy estate for its later representation of an official committee of claimants who were in favor of the plan because its retention was never approved and the firm lacks standing to seek retention on its own, the debtor says in an objection to the firm’s final fee application in Texas federal bankruptcy court.

  • October 20, 2025

    7th Circuit Affirms Copyright Win For Rapper French Montana

    CHICAGO — In a matter of first impression for the court, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an Illinois federal judge’s decision to grant summary judgment to a rapper accused by a producer of copyright infringement because the producer failed to show that the rapper copied a beat he made “as opposed to merely imitating it,” but the panel also affirmed the judge’s decision to deny the rapper’s request for fees.

  • October 20, 2025

    Mississippi High Court Denies Insurer’s Motion To Rehear Hurricane Katrina Suit

    JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi Supreme Court declined an insurer’s request to rehear a majority’s ruling that affirmed a jury's $10,457,858.89 damages award against the insurer in a Hurricane Katrina coverage dispute, reversed the lower court’s denial of the insured’s estate’s posttrial motion for attorney fees and rendered $4,500,000 in attorney fees to the estate plus postjudgment interest, standing by its ruling that the lower court’s decision to force the estate to use nearly half of its award to pay attorney fees fails to adequately compensate them for bringing the bad faith action against the insurer.

  • October 17, 2025

    2nd Circuit Affirms Fee Award Against Law Firm In Podcast Trademark Fight

    NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an attorney fee award against a law firm that represented a technology company that brought trademark claims against a podcast company over the name of one of its shows, holding that the case was “exceptional” as described in the Lanham Act because the underlying suit was frivolous and brought in bad faith in pursuance of a settlement.

  • October 17, 2025

    In Fee Case, Colorado High Court Rules 6-1 That ‘Citizen’ Includes Newspaper

    DENVER — With the chief justice dissenting, the Colorado Supreme Court reversed and remanded a lower court’s judgment in a Colorado Open Meetings Law (COML) case, ruling in part that a newspaper “falls within the meaning of the word ‘citizen’” as used in the law “and is therefore entitled to seek attorney fees if it prevails in a COML action”; it also reversed a ruling that any attorney-client privilege concerning an executive session was waived.

  • October 15, 2025

    5th Circuit Remands Attorney Fees Issue In City Manager’s Race Discrimination Suit

    NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ordered a trial court to consider on remand an issue of attorney fees after partially reversing a trial court’s judgment following a jury verdict for the plaintiff in a race bias and breach of contract case brought by a fired city manager.

  • October 15, 2025

    Judge Orders Private Equity Fund To Pay Almost $3M In Withdrawal Liability Suit

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Noting his previous finding that a private equity fund counted as an employer under the withdrawal liability provision of the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA), a Missouri federal judge ordered the fund to pay nearly $3 million, including interest, liquidated damages and attorney fees.

  • October 14, 2025

    6th Circuit Affirms Contempt Finding In Kentucky Colonel Trademark Dispute

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Oct. 14 that a Kentucky federal judge did not abuse her discretion by holding a pro se appellant in contempt for failing to comply with a permanent injunction barring him from using a mark associated with the honorary title of “Kentucky Colonel.”  The panel also affirmed the judge’s decision to order the man to pay attorney fees and costs.

  • October 14, 2025

    11th Circuit Finds Sanctionable Conduct In Energy Drink IP Row But Vacates Award

    ATLANTA — An 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Florida federal judge’s finding of bad faith against an energy drink maker’s counsel in a trade dress infringement dispute against rival drink makers, agreeing that the attorneys engaged in sanctionable conduct during the discovery process; however, the panel vacated the judge’s nearly $250,000 sanctions award, finding it to have been improperly calculated.

  • October 13, 2025

    9th Circuit Affirms $4 Million Judgment Against Supplement Counterfeiters

    SAN FRANCISCO — A panel in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a California federal judge’s decision to award a supplement maker and its founder a $4 million judgment and nearly $5.3 million in attorney fees after entering default judgment against entities that the supplement maker accused of counterfeiting its products, finding that the appellant entities were not prejudiced by the judge’s decision to enter default judgment without considering the entities’ motions to set aside default.

  • October 10, 2025

    After Fees Award, LTD Insurer Drops Appeal Of Ruling That Doctor Is Due Benefits

    PHILADELPHIA — Weeks after the plaintiff in a long-term disability (LTD) benefits case was awarded reduced attorney fees of $117,297.50 by the trial court, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed the insurer’s appeal pursuant to a joint stipulation.

  • October 10, 2025

    Group Home Appeals No Coverage Ruling For Underlying Negligence Suit

    DULUTH, Minn. — The operators of a group home notified a Montana federal court that it is appealing the court’s holding that a commercial general liability insurer has no duty to defend them against an underlying negligence lawsuit and that they are not entitled to attorney fees, challenging the court’s ruling that no coverage was triggered because the underlying complaint alleges only mental injuries and not bodily injury, sickness or disease.

  • October 09, 2025

    Court: Expert Testimony Showed Evidence Hurricane Caused Damage, JNOV An Error

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida trial judge improperly “supplanted the jury’s role as factfinder” when he reweighed photographic evidence and granted an insurer’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) after a jury considered expert testimony and evidence to find that Hurricane Irma created a hole in a home’s roof, a state appeals court ruled Oct. 8.

  • October 09, 2025

    Justice Awards Attorney Fees In Legal World’s Latest ‘Unfortunate Chapter’ With AI

    NEW YORK — A lawyer’s error-riddled filings and initial failure to admit how they came to be add the latest “unfortunate chapter to the story of artificial intelligence misuse in the legal profession,” a New York justice said in awarding attorney fees and costs as a sanction.

  • October 09, 2025

    New York City Entitled To Fees, Costs In Climate Change Case, 2nd Circuit Affirms

    NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority ruled that New York City is entitled to attorney fees and costs that incurred litigating consumer protection claims brought against oil and gas companies that allegedly lied to consumers about the effects of fossil fuel products in affirming a New York federal judge’s ruling that was issued along with an order remanding the case to state court.

  • October 08, 2025

    Honeywell Defends Award Against Mexican Company For $33M Plus $20M In Fees

    NEW YORK — Honeywell International Inc. and its subsidiary filed a cross-motion in New York federal court to confirm an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) award worth more than $53 million including $20.9 million in attorney fees and costs against a Mexican construction company that has petitioned for vacatur, arguing that the award “is more than adequately reasoned” and that no grounds for vacatur apply.

  • October 08, 2025

    9th Circuit Cuts Police Officer’s Attorney Fee Award For City’s Retaliation

    PORTLAND, Ore. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 7 reduced by around $200,000 an award for attorney fees given to a police officer who sued Vancouver, Wash., for sex discrimination and retaliation after finding that a district court, though it properly reduced the award for the officer’s limited success at trial, was wrong to include work done on an unrelated case and erred in granting a request for a contingency award.

  • October 08, 2025

    Judge Tosses Athletics Fansite Copyright Suit Against Sports Fan Page Company

    ABERDEEN, Miss. — A Mississippi federal judge on Oct. 7 dismissed without prejudice a copyright infringement suit alleging that a company that maintains Facebook fan pages for U.S. professional and college sports violated the intellectual property rights of a Mississippi State University internet fansite, finding that the court lacks personal jurisdiction over the suit because the fansite failed to show that the fan page company is “subject to personal jurisdiction” in Mississippi.

  • October 08, 2025

    Valuation, Attorney Fee Issues Lead To Preliminary Denial Of Privacy Settlement

    PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge denied preliminary approval of a proposed class settlement to resolve claims over a mental health provider’s alleged use of Meta’s Pixel to share patient data, holding that the agreement lacked evidence to establish its overall value and contained an attorney fee structure that was disproportionate to class recovery.