A recent Law 360 story by Emilie Ruscoe, “Hagens Berman Nabs $5.3M in Fees Over Sasol Investor Deal” reports that attorneys who represented investors in South African energy and chemical company Sasol Ltd. will get nearly $5.3 million for their work on the case after brokering a $24 million settlement deal with the company to end claims it hid risks taken as it built a facility in Louisiana.  In an order, U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan said the investors' Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP legal team could have 22% of the settlement fund and nearly $432,000 to cover their litigation expenses. Together, the attorney fee and the reimbursement sum total over $5.7 million.

"Lead counsel conducted the litigation and achieved the settlement with skill, perseverance, and diligent advocacy," the order states, adding later that the fee and reimbursement sums are "consistent with awards in similar cases."  Judge Cronan also said lead plaintiff David Cohn could have $20,000 and additional plaintiff Chad Lindsey Moshell could have $15,000 from the settlement fund to reimburse their "reasonable costs and expenses directly related" to the litigation.

The court's order comes a day after a final hearing on the proposed fee and reimbursement sums and adopts language proposed by the investors in July, when they filed the request for the attorney fees.  The order also noted that none of the members of the class had objected to the settlement sum, despite the fact that nearly 90,000 potential class members had been mailed notices about the final hearing, and that the attorneys spent an estimated 6,000 hours on the case since moving to become lead counsel in the matter in April 2020.