Class counsel are seeking attorney fees of $720 million and $27 million in expenses in the Visa/MasterCard Merchant Antitrust MDL.  The fee request represents 10 percent of the estimated value of the cash value of the settlement.  The attorneys, representing a class of more than 7 million merchants, filed court documents seeking final approval of the accord from U.S. District Judge John Gleeson in New York.

The settlement, valued at $7.25 billion, is the largest antitrust settlement in U.S. history.  In fact, that figure is more than double the recovery in any previous private antitrust action.  According to the memorandum in support of fees (pdf), filed by Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi, Berger & Montague, and Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, the lead plaintiff firms, wrote, “The settlement will affect as great a segment of the United States economy as any previous antitrust class action.”  In addition, the injunctive relief rule changes in the case will likely translate into billions of dollars beyond the settlement.

Over 60 law firms worked on the litigation over an eight year period, investing nearly 500,000 hours in the action.  Class counsel complied, reviewed, and organized a massive discovery record, which included 65 million pages of documents, produced by the 19 defendants.  In the trial preparation phase, class counsel produced five expert reports, while defendants responded with 12 expert reports, which in turn produced six expert rebuttal reports, creating Daubert challenges from both sides.

In addition, plaintiffs’ counsel assisted in securing legislation regulating interchange fees by passing the Durbin Amendment in the Dodd-Frank Act.  As a result of this amendment, class members saved an estimated $9 billion per year in debit-card fees.  What is more, this action also prompted the DOJ and several states’ Attorneys General to investigate anti-steering rules, resulting in a consent judgment against Visa and MasterCard, limiting several of Visa and MasterCard rules, the very rule changes the underlying action sought.

“Indeed, the settlement secured by class counsel is unprecedented in the history of antitrust law,” said Terry Jesse, executive director of NALFA.  “The fact that the litigation produced beneficial legislative and executive action, relying primarily on the discovery record developed in the MDL, in the plaintiffs’ favor, may be reason alone to justify the 10 percent fee request,” Jesse concluded.

The case is In re Payment Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation. For more information on this MDL, visit https://www.paymentcardsettlement.com