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$23M in Attorney Fees in Yahoo Data Breach MDL

July 22, 2020 | Posted in : Billing Record / Entries, Contingency Fees / POF, Expenses / Costs, Fee Award, Fee Award Factors, Fee Calculation Method, Fee Reduction, Fee Request, Hourly Rates, Lodestar, Practice Area: Class Action / Mass Tort / MDL

A recent Law 360 story by Dorothy Atkins, “Yahoo Data Breach MDL Attys Get $23M in Cut Fee Award” reports that a California federal judge approved a $117.5 million deal to resolve multidistrict litigation involving 194 million class members over Yahoo's multiple data breaches and awarded class counsel $23 million in fees, declining to award the full $30 million they requested.  In an 86-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh signed off on the settlement allotting class counsel $23 million in fees and $1.48 million in costs, while class representatives received between $2,500 and $7,500 in service awards.

In rejecting class counsel's bid for $30 million in fees, Judge Koh recognized that their requested fee amount met the 25% benchmark typically awarded in class action settlements.  But the judge said calculating fees based on a percentage of the total deal isn't appropriate in this "megafund" case involving more than a hundred million class members.  "Having overseen this case for four years, the court finds that justice would be best served by applying the lodestar method — i.e., tying the fee awards for class counsel to the actual hours they reasonably expended on this litigation and then selecting a multiplier," the order says.

During a hearing held via Zoom last month, Judge Koh heard multiple objections to the settlement and fee request.  At the time, the judge told class counsel she wanted more detailed billing information — including the "markup" on work by first-year law students — on the 31 law firms and 204 attorneys and paralegals who worked on the MDL and related litigation consolidated in state court, as well as total costs for hiring experts.  After reviewing the supplemental information, Judge Koh said in her order that class counsel's hourly billing rates — which ranged from $450 to $900 for partners, $160 to $850 for non-partner attorneys and $200 for summer associates — is reasonable.