A recent Law 360 story by Reenat Sinay, “Robbins Geller Bags $100M in Fees for $1B Vereit Settlement,” reports that Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP attorneys will receive a $100 million payday for securing a $1.025 billion settlement for Vereit Inc. investors in a suit that accused the real estate investment trust of lying about its books, a New York federal judge ruled.  U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein approved the massive settlement but decided to take more time to rule on attorney fees due to the size of the deal.

Robbins Geller, which represented lead class plaintiff TIAA-CREF, had asked for attorney fees worth 12.4% of the settlement fund, which comes out to $127.1 million, plus expenses of just over $5.1 million.  The lawyers said in their December fee bid that the 12.4% amount "falls far below" the usual range for cases of this size and complexity, and noted a 13% fee award in a $2.3 billion class-action settlement was recently affirmed by the Second Circuit.

Without explaining his reasons for approving a lower amount than requested, Judge Hellerstein awarded $100 million in fees and $5,154,721 in expenses.  "The court finds that the amount of fees awarded is fair, reasonable, and appropriate under both the lodestar and 'percentage-of-recovery' methods," he said.  "Lead counsel has pursued the litigation and achieved the settlement with skill, perseverance and diligent advocacy."

The settlement ended five years of "hard-fought" litigation and represents a recovery of 50% of the maximum recoverable damages — the highest percentage recovery ever in a major private securities class action ahead of trial, according to Robbins Geller.