A recent Law 360 story by Kelly Lienhard, “AT&T ‘Bait-and-Switch’ Customer Attys Want $3.5M in Fees” reports that attorneys who secured a $14 million settlement for a group of AT&T customers claiming they were charged an improper fee asked a California federal court for a $3.5 million cut of the award to cover their legal fees, as well as additional funds to cover litigation expenses.  The requested fee is 25% of the full settlement amount, which aligns with the Ninth Circuit's benchmark for attorney fees, according to the attorneys' motion, and is warranted based on the risk taken and time spent on the case.

"[The fee] is well justified under the circumstances of this case, including in light of the significant risk settlement class counsel assumed in taking this case on and vigorously litigating it for years notwithstanding the possibility that the case could ultimately be derailed on arbitration or any number of other grounds," the counsel stated.  AT&T agreed to the $14 million settlement to avoid litigation after its customers sued the telecom company over claims that the company used bait-and-switch tactics by applying an "administrative fee" to customers' accounts.

The customers' counsel is asking for 25% of the settlement amount to cover their fees and almost $75,000 for litigation expenses.  According to the attorneys, over 4,674 hours were devoted to the case, with more work still ahead to secure the finalized settlement.  The work was done with no guarantee that the lawyers would see any compensation, with additional challenges that come with going up against a large, well-funded company, according to the attorneys.

The customers' counsel added that a lodestar-multiplier cross-check found that the requested $3.5 million fee represents a little less than 128% percent of the $2,754,739 in attorney fees accumulated so far in the case, which is at the lower end of the range typically awarded, the attorneys said.