A recent Law 360 story, “Robbins Geller Gets $5.3M Fee Award in Libor-Rigging Suit,” reports that a New York federal judge approved nearly $5.3 million in fees and expenses for Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, wrapping up an investors’ suit accusing Barclays PLC of manipulating a benchmark interest rate and making misstatements to cover it up.
U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin signed off on the attorneys' fee award, which comes out to $4.2 million in fees and nearly $1.1 million in expenses, agreeing that it was “fair and reasonable” in an order. The fees are 30 percent of the $14 million settlement fund, which Judge Scheindlin also gave her final approval to.
The judge agreed with the firm’s claim that the case, which involved accusations that the bank manipulated the London Interbank Offered Rate and lied about it, was complex and faced an uncertain future if a settlement had not been reached, the order said.
“Lead counsel has expended substantial time and effort pursuing the litigation on behalf of the class,” the order said. “Lead counsel pursued the litigation on a contingent basis, having received no compensation during the litigation, and any fee award has been contingent on the result achieved.”
An investor filed suit in July 2012, just weeks after the bank paid U.S. and U.K. regulators $450 million to settle Libor fixing claims, alleging the bank and its former executives overlooked the manipulation and later actively worked to fix the rates themselves, according to court documents.
The suit was dismissed in May 2013, because the investors couldn’t tie the bank’s Libor submissions to their alleged losses. However, the Second Circuit revived parts of the case and Judge Scheindlin refused to dismiss the remaining claims.
Last August, Judge Scheindlin certified the class of investors, and approved Carpenters Pension Trust Fund of St. Louis and St. Clair Shores Police & Fire Retirement System as class representatives and Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP as class counsel, court documents said.
The investors asked for Judge Scheindlins’ approval of the $14 million deal in November, claiming it would be hard to prove the bank and the former executives fraudulently intended to fix the rates.
The order said Robbins Geller spent nearly 14,000 hours on the case, which would come out to about $6.1 million using reasonable hourly rates.
Investors who purchased Barclays’ American Depository Shares between July 10, 2007, and June 27, 2012, are eligible to apply for a piece of the $14 million settlement, according to court documents.
The case is Gusinsky v. Barclays PLC et al., case number 1:12-cv-05329, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.