A recent Law 360 story by Dorothy Atkins, “VW’s $80M Porsche Emissions Deal OK’d With $24M Atty Fees” reports that a California federal judge said he will approve Volkswagen and Porsche's $80 million deal and class counsel's $24 million fee award to end consumers' claims they manipulated emissions and fuel-economy tests for nearly 500,000 gas-powered Porsche vehicles, despite objections the deal includes vehicles that weren't damaged.

At the end of a hearing held via Zoom, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said he plans to issue an order signing off on the $80 million deal, which awards class counsel $24 million in fees — or 30% of the settlement fund — and roughly $710,000 in costs, and overruling objections by two pro se class members and a third, Wesley V. Lochridge, who is represented by Robert Clore of Bandas Law Firm PC.

During the hearing, which the pro se class members did not attend, only Lochridge's counsel objected to the settlement, which resolves claims for consumers who purchased or leased certain gasoline-powered Porsche vehicles the plaintiffs claim were made to seem more environmentally friendly than they actually were.

Clore argued the settlement includes a group of thousands of vehicles — referred to as "other class vehicles," which includes 84 model Porsches for a variety of model years — that class counsel had tested and concluded released emissions that didn't deviate from fuel economy standards. As a result, he said, those car owners don't have standing to sue, but are getting compensated for undamaged vehicles.

But class counsel Elizabeth J. Cabraser of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP argued the reality is that the damages alleged on an individual level are difficult to measure, and class counsel decided not to spend extra resources, which would have cost the class, in testing those particular vehicles thoroughly even though they likely had emissions irregularities.  She said the objector had focused on a particular comment in the record about the vehicles, but took it out of context, and consumers don't have to prove the vehicles were definitively damaged for the purpose of the settlement.

Cabraser defended the claims process, noting that the bulk of claimants haven't had a problem submitting claims, and she agreed to send out a reminder to class members that they can submit a claim with alternative documents as proof if they don't have the original contract and to make that clear on the settlement's website.  She also argued the deal warrants approval and payments have already been sent out to more than 120,000 claimants, which she said is a significant claims rate. She added that 99% of claimants raised no objections to the deal, and the objectors' concerns aren't enough to defeat its approval.

The claims were part of multidistrict litigation initially launched in 2015, accusing Volkswagen AG, its luxury line Porsche AG and Porsche Cars North America Inc. of improperly skewing test results, leaving consumers with Porsche vehicles that didn't meet emissions and fuel-economy performance standards.

The settlement agrees to reimburse U.S. consumers who bought or leased certain vehicles from model years 2005 to 2020 and divides the class members into three groups: fuel economy, Sport+ and other class vehicles.  Under the deal, consumers in the fuel economy group will receive $250 to $1,109 per vehicle, depending on their vehicle's revised fuel economy ratings and how long they have had the vehicle. Consumers who purchased vehicles with a high-performance Sport+ mode — which are the subject of an ongoing recall — receive an automatic cash payment of $250.