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Judge Approves $2.2M Fee Request in Life Insurance Case

June 23, 2020 | Posted in : Fee Award, Fee Award Factors, Fee Request, Hourly Rates, Practice Area: Class Action / Mass Tort / MDL

A recent Law 360 story by Lauraann Wood, “Ill. Judge Oks $2.2M Fee Bid in Life Insurance Billing Case” reports that an Illinois federal judge gave final approval to a class action settlement and a $2.2 million attorney fee award for a group of Accordia Life and Annuity Co. customers who claimed their life insurance policies unlawfully lapsed during a system transition.  U.S. District Judge Colin Bruce said both the monetary and injunctive relief outlined in the deal between Accordia, its electronic payment collector and nearly 500,000 policyholders are fair and reasonable outcomes for the lawsuit that four policyholders launched in 2017.

The policyholders claimed their guarantees were cut on purpose when Accordia and its electronic payment collector, Alliance One Services Inc., allowed life insurance policies previously owned and guaranteed for life by Athene Annuity & Life Co. to either lapse or be canceled by not automatically debiting those customers' monthly premiums and applying them to their accounts.

Judge Bruce also said class counsel's request for $2.2 million in attorney fees shakes out to compensate the policyholders' attorneys for about 2,261 hours of work at $495 an hour, which "is a reasonable blended rate for counsel of this substantial experience engaged in complex civil litigation of a national scope in the Central District of Illinois."  The settlement, which Judge Bruce initially approved in June 2019, faced challenges from five class members who objected to either the nature of the settlement, its monetary relief or class counsel's fee request.

The judge approved the deal over the challenges, saying the settlement and its monetary relief aren't perfect, but "a settlement is a compromise, and, again, the court believes plaintiffs have attempted to achieve the best possible relief for the class when weighed against the risks of trial or summary judgment."