A recent NLJ story, “Fight Continues Over Attorney Fees in BAR/BRI Lawsuit,” reports that fee objectors to two settlements involving antitrust claims against the makers of the BAR/BRI bar review preparatory course materials have moved to recover their attorney fees, claiming they were instrumental in unraveling the original deals in favor of new agreements that better benefit class members. 

In one settlement, for $9.5 million, fee objector George Richard Baker seeks $578,750 in fees for his “remarkably vital role” in raising red flags over an earlier deal that involved coupons; the coupons were later replaced with cash.  Baker also objected to $1.9 million in fees sought by Harris & Ruble of Los Angeles, class counsel in the case.

Meanwhile, a law firm for five fee objectors who successfully challenged class counsel’s fees in an earlier $49 million settlement is expected to file an opening brief this month before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit challenging $236,000 in attorney fees and $1,700 costs awarded on January 14.  Kendrick & Nutley of Pasadena, Calif., claims its lawyers are entitled to nearly $1.8 million.

The underlying class actions both allege that law school students paid too much for BAR/BRI bar review materials after West Publishing Corp. and Kaplan Inc. conspired to establish a monopoly in violation of the Sherman Act, the federal antitrust law.  The $49 million settlement resolved claims involving purchases made during the nine years after August 1, 1997.  The case, filed in 2005, involved a class of 300,000 students who claimed they were overcharged by about $1,000 for the course.

Both cases are before U.S. District Judge Manuel Real in Los Angeles.  In an August 5 filing to Baker’s claim, Harris & Ruble argue that Baker was not responsible for the revised deal.  He added that Baker’s firm worked fewer than 70 hours on the case and his clients, whose concerns about the coupons mirrored that of more than 200 other objectors, lack standing to object since they hadn’t submitted claims by the July 8 deadline.

For more on this case, visit http://www.barbri-classaction.com