A recent The Recorder story, “Lawyer for Uber Drivers Slashes Fee Request,” reports that, stung by accusations that she sold out hundreds of thousands of Uber drivers to enrich herself, plaintiffs attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan said late Friday that she would reduce her fee request in the high-profile class action by $10 million.

Liss-Riordan, who is based in Boston, is lead plaintiffs counsel in litigation against Uber Technologies Inc. over its classification of drivers as independent contractors.  In April, she struck an $84 million settlement with the company, which could surge to $100 million if the company hits certain financial milestones.  Liss-Riordan indicated at the time that her team would seek fees of $21 million at the lower threshold and $25 million at the higher one.

In a filing in federal court, Liss-Riordan, who has been under pressure from drivers, plaintiffs lawyers and even one of her former clients, said she would take a $10 million pay cut "in order to provide additional benefit to the class."  She emphasized that the original deal allotted legal fees in keeping with the 25 percent "benchmark" that California courts have said is acceptable in class action recoveries.

In an email, Liss-Riordan also said she is calling on Uber to increase its contribution to the base settlement value by $10 million, meaning that the roughly 350,000 California and Massachusetts drivers subject to the settlement would be able to draw on an additional $20 million in total.

"I am offended by the allegations that I settled the case for the fees," Liss-Riordan said in the email.  "As an experienced and dedicated workers rights advocate for nearly 20 years, I reached an agreement that I believe is in the best interests of the class."

If U.S. District Judge Edward Chen approves the settlement and Liss-Riordan's fee request, her team would now collect $11 million, or $15 million if the company's valuation grows 1.5 times through an acquisition or an IPO.

The move by Liss-Riordan comes about a week after a contentious hearing on preliminary approval of the proposed settlement before the Northern District of California judge.  Chen appeared likely to reject the deal over concerns that it would extinguish a broad range of litigation pending against Uber and make it harder for some drivers to sue the company on their own.

The settlement does not resolve the question of whether Uber drivers are employees or independent contractors.  Uber maintains they will continue to be treated as the latter, and thus not be entitled to reimbursement for expenses like gas or mobile phone data.

Liss-Riordan has faced calls from a handful of other plaintiffs attorneys to be removed as class counsel.  They charge that she settled the case too cheaply and deprived the roughly 350,000 Uber drivers subject to the settlement of the financial compensation to which they're entitled.

Liss-Riordan estimated that if she were successful in the three California and Massachusetts cases she was pursuing against Uber, drivers could have recovered more than $850 million.  However, she emphasized that figure is based on a series of best-case-scenario predictions and doesn't account for the risks involved in taking the case to trial.