A recent Law 360 story by Silvia Martelli, “Hausfeld Doesn’t Have to Disclose Fees in £920M Google Suit,” reports that a tribunal has ruled that a woman bringing a proposed £920 million ($1.3 billion) antitrust class action against Google does not have to disclose the fees her lawyers at Hausfeld & Co. LLP stand to collect if the suit succeeds.  The Competition Appeal Tribunal found that Liz Coll, who brought a proposed class action against Google on behalf of 19.5 million consumers, does not have to reveal the percentage of any damages that Hausfeld will get as a success fee.  Coll also doesn't have to share the premiums on her litigation insurance, because they are not relevant to the lawsuit.

Coll alleges that Google has violated U.K. and European competition law by taking a 30% commission every time consumers in Britain buy applications, pay subscriptions or make purchases through the company's Play Store.  The claim follows a similar action filed against Apple at the same court in May.  The tribunal rejected Google's accusations that the success fee Coll agreed to pay her lawyers at Hausfeld must be disclosed as there is a potential conflict of interest between the class members and the solicitors.

There might be "an incentive" for the lawyers to ensure that there is "a sufficient pot" of undistributed damages so that the success fees are paid in full, because success fees are paid out of damages before they are distributed, Google said.  But the tribunal rejected the argument, saying that the bulk of the allegation is that there is a risk that the legal team will not comply with their professional obligations.  "We do not accept that that assumption is an appropriate one to make in this case, in the absence of any real evidential basis," the judgment said.

Google also argued that it is important to be able to strip out the deposit premium from the total budget to see what funding is available for each phase of the litigation.  But the tribunal said that Coll, formerly head of digital at Consumers International, a global organization for consumer groups, disclosed comprehensive information about the litigation budget, set at £11.3 million, and correctly broken down into phases of the litigation.