A recent NLJ story, “Calif. Judge Warns Plaintiffs Lawyers About Fees in Class Action,” reports that a California federal judge has fired a warning shot at a cadre of plaintiffs lawyers, cautioning them not to regard their proposed class action against The Coca Cola Company as a way to pile up legal fees. 

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California issued the blunt admonishment to the plaintiffs’ attorneys in Engurasoff v. Coca Cola, one of the six cases preliminarily encompassed in proposed multidistrict litigation alleging Coca Cola falsely claims its iconic product does not contain added preservatives and artificial flavors.

White closed his August 21 order with a stern broadside against the plaintiffs’ counsel: “The court admonishes plaintiffs that, to the extent they view this case, or the related cases, as an opportunity to settle a class action and obtain a large sum of attorneys’ fees, the court will review any request for attorneys’ fees as part of a class action settlement with close scrutiny,” the judge wrote.

Citing the plaintiffs’ 15-page brief and “voluminous exhibits” that went “far beyond” the legal application to the plaintiffs’ case of the Supreme Court’s June 12 ruling in POM Wonderful v. Coca Cola, White concluded with the observation that “Plaintiffs have been expending additional, unnecessary hours.”