A recent The Recorder story, “Unilever Wants Fees Slashed in Suave Case,” reports that Unilever PLC is asking a judge to slash $2 million from $3.4 million bill for plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees in a $10 million Suave hair products class action settlement, highlighting what the company called unacceptable charges, such as $875 for “waiting around for brief” and $22,000 for communicating with the media.

Branding the attorney fee request a “wholly unwarranted” windfall, Unilever states it has found at least $2 million in unacceptable charges by attorneys representing class members in Reid v. Unilever, originally filed in August 2012 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Deciphering a heavily redacted account of legal charges supplied by the plaintiffs and using the lodestar method for divining fees, Unilever calculated $1.1 million in justifiable charges.  The final legal tab Unilever will pay will be in addition to the $10.2 million it has agreed to shell out to the consumers with eligible claims.

The class action was brought by consumers who alleged they lost hair or suffered scalp injury after using the Suave Professionals Keratin Infusion 30-Day Smoothing Kit, which was recalled in May 2012.  The plaintiffs alleged the product contained a chemical that caused the injuries, and that Unilever made false statements about the product’s safety and failed to inform consumers about how to use the treatment properly.

In its line-by-line dissection of the plaintiffs’ fee request, Unilever alleges that submitted time records claiming nearly $500,000 were so heavily redacted that the category of work allegedly done could not be discerned.  Allegedly duplicative billing and inflated rates were common.  More than 90 percent of the hours claimed allegedly were billed at law firm partners’ and principals’ rates, Unilever claims.  What essentially were small errands allegedly carried excessive costs, Unilever’s motion states.  For instance, a staffer at one plaintiffs’ firms charged $550 for two hours of work “shipping box to Chicago,” the company alleges.

In comparison to the plaintiffs’ overall litigation bill of $3.4 million.  Unilever spent just $1.1 million in fees to defend itself in the same case, the company’s motion states.  For more on this case, visit http://suave30daysmoothingkitlawsuit.com/.