A recent Law 360 story by Mike Curley, “Attys Seek $15M in Fees From $74M SunEdison Settlement,” reports that the lead counsel in a class action claiming SunEdison Inc. misled shareholders about its financial health before filing for bankruptcy is asking a New York federal court to approve more than $15 million in attorney fees for its work in reaching a $74 million settlement with the company. 

In a memorandum filed, attorneys with Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, representing plaintiffs the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System of Michigan and Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, said the fee, which amounts to 21% of the $74 million pot, is reasonable and under the amount suggested by lodestar guidelines.

The request also includes $1.5 million in expenses, and 21% of any additional recovery, according to the memorandum.  The attorneys are also requesting an award of $13,598 to the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System of Michigan and $1,819 to Arkansas Teacher Retirement System for their costs and expenses.

The fees reflect that the settlement was achieved through the “skill, tenacity and effective advocacy” of the lead attorneys, according to the memorandum, including an extensive investigation into SunEdison’s alleged fraud, drafting the complaints, defeating motions for dismissal and summary judgment and nationwide and international discovery efforts.  In addition, the fee is based on a written agreement that lead counsel signed with the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System of Michigan at the start of the case and should therefore be presumed to be reasonable, the attorneys argued.

Circuit courts have approved attorney fees in settlements of this type of more than 30% of the total fund, according to the memorandum, which added that the lodestar payment, based on the amount of hours the attorneys put in, would be $18 million, making the $15 million request only 86% of the lead counsel’s time.

The 2015 class action alleges false and misleading statements and omissions in violation of the Exchange Act and liability and negligence claims under the Securities Act.  The suit is one of a multitude that SunEdison is facing in multidistrict litigation following business decisions that ultimately led to its filing for bankruptcy in April 2016.

In their bid for initial settlement approval filed in July, shareholders in the company also asked the court to allow their counsel to request attorney fees of up to 22% of the settlement fund and another $2 million in litigation expenses incurred over the three and a half years since the suit was filed.  Under the settlement, a $74 million fund will be divided between the two subclasses, with $19.5 million and any of the supplemental insurance money going to the Exchange Act subclass, and $54.5 million going to the Securities Act subclass, the investors said.