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Mealey's Attorney Fees

  • September 17, 2025

    Chinese Law Firm’s Client Seeks More Time To Answer $765K Attorney Fees Award

    SEATTLE — The former client of a Chinese law firm now allegedly residing in Washington state on Sept. 16 filed an unopposed motion in Washington federal court for an extension of time to respond to the firm’s petition to confirm a Shenzhen Court of Internatioanl Arbitration (SCIA) award worth more than $765,000 in unpaid attorney fees.

  • September 17, 2025

    Insurer Has No Duty To Pay Attorney Fees In Coverage Suit, Panel Rules In Reversal

    INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana appeals panel reversed a lower court’s finding that an insurer has a duty to provide coverage for attorney fees incurred by the plaintiff in a coverage dispute arising from a workplace injury, concluding that the attorney fees that the plaintiff incurred in bringing the present lawsuit are not defense costs “because of” the underlying action.

  • September 16, 2025

    Federal Judge Reduces Fees Insurer Must Pay In LTD Case To Just Over $314,000

    MINNEAPOLIS — Saying in part “that counsel claims quite a large number of hours for tasks that likely could and should have taken less time,” a Minnesota federal judge who ordered that a long-term disability (LTD) claimant be paid a total of $741,085.31 in retroactive benefits and prejudgment interest also granted reduced attorney fees of $314,440.29 and reduced costs of $2,698.15.

  • September 16, 2025

    $95 Million Settlement Of Siri Eavesdropping Class Action Gets Final Approval

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge gave a final OK to a $95 million settlement of a six-year-old class action accusing Apple Inc. of collecting unauthorized recordings of Apple device users via its Siri digital assistant, deeming the settlement “fair, adequate, and reasonable.”

  • September 16, 2025

    9th Circuit Affirms Fee Sanction For Misconduct In Cigar Antitrust Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has affirmed a district court’s award of attorney fees and costs to a cigar maker as sanctions for misconduct by another cigar manufacturer in the latter’s 10-year-old antitrust and breach of contract lawsuit, finding that the trial court properly exercised its inherent authority to reach a “holistic and equitable resolution of this protracted dispute.”

  • September 15, 2025

    No Coverage Owed For Negligence Suit Against Group Home, Judge Rules

    DULUTH, Minn. — A federal judge in Montana held that a commercial general liability insurer has no duty to defend its insured against an underlying negligence lawsuit, concluding that no coverage was triggered because the underlying complaint alleges only mental injuries and not bodily injury, sickness or disease.

  • September 15, 2025

    Magistrate Approves $1.5 Million Settlement Of Garda Data Breach Suit

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — More than five months after he preliminarily approved a $1.5 million settlement between a security company and a group of employees that sued it over the theft of their personally identifiable information (PII) in a 2023 data breach, a Florida federal magistrate judge granted final approval, deeming the deal in compliance with federal rules and, as such, “fair, adequate and reasonable.”

  • September 11, 2025

    Clothing Maker Seeks Fees After Federal Circuit Reverses Infringement Verdict

    PHOENIX — After the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed an Arizona federal jury’s more than $20 million award against a clothing maker in a design patent and trademark infringement dispute related to oversized sweatshirts, the company now tells the court that it is owed roughly $3.6 million in attorney fees and costs, arguing that the case was “exceptional.”

  • September 11, 2025

    8th Circuit: No Errors In Family Name HVAC Trademark Jury Instructions

    ST. LOUIS — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said it found no error in a Missouri federal judge’s grant of summary judgment on copyright claims or jury instructions on trademark claims in a dispute over the use of a family name between two heating and air conditioning entities after a founding member of the family business started a new company, affirming findings adverse to the plaintiff-appellant entity.

  • September 10, 2025

    Federal Circuit: Fees Owed To Chipmaker In Tossed Infringement Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Texas federal judge should have granted attorney fees to Realtek Semiconductor Corp. because it was the “prevailing party” after the judge converted a patent owner’s voluntary dismissal of a pair of infringement suits to a dismissal with prejudice, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Sept. 9.

  • September 08, 2025

    Judge Confirms Tribunal’s 2.2M Euro Attorney Fee Award For Fertilizer Dispute

    CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A Wyoming federal judge on Sept. 5 granted a petition by Hungarian and Slovakian companies to confirm an international arbitration award worth more than 2.2 million euros in attorney fees, expenses and arbitration costs against a Wyoming company for a dispute over profits from the use of fertilizer technology.

  • September 08, 2025

    Citing ‘Troubling’ Conduct, Judge Awards Attorney Fees In Billing ‘Fraud’ Suit

    BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge “allowed” a motion for attorney fees filed by a lab and its owners in a medical practice’s qui tam suit alleging that they violated the False Claims Act (FCA) and similar state laws related to billing federal government insurers for medically unnecessary urinary tract infection (UTI) testing, finding “extremely troubling” the relator’s conduct regarding causing the submission of false claims while knowing that testing was not medically necessary.

  • September 08, 2025

    Defendants Get Reduced Attorney Fees In ERISA Liquidation Time Lawsuit

    RICHMOND, Va. — A plaintiff dissatisfied that it took 10 days to liquidate his 401(k) plan has been ordered to pay attorney fees totaling $122,951 after a Virginia federal judge concluded in part that “a majority of this prolonged litigation could have been avoided had Plaintiff reviewed and authenticated” call transcripts that were at the heart of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act case.

  • September 08, 2025

    Hawaii High Court Reverses Fees For Prevailing Condo Owner, Citing Resort Contracts

    HONOLULU — The Hawaii Supreme Court affirmed an appellate court’s ruling that a condominium owner did not violate a resort’s covenants and restrictions by allowing others to stay in its condo units in exchange for paying annual dues to a membership program offered by its parent company but reversed the court’s award of attorney fees for the condo owner based on the fee provision in the resort’s contract document.

  • September 08, 2025

    South Dakota High Court Reverses Fee Award That Was Based On ‘Misperception’

    PIERRE, S.D. — In a ruling that drew a partial dissent, the South Dakota Supreme Court reversed an assessment of attorney fees related to the appellant’s “tribal enrollment status,” saying in part that the lower court’s “misperception resulted in an attorney fee award that was not ‘in the interests of justice’ and was an abuse of discretion”; the appellate court also reversed an award of visitation rights, which drew a separate partial dissent.

  • September 05, 2025

    Class Settlement Wins Final Approval In ERISA Case Over Alleged Cost-Shifting

    ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge granted final approval to a class settlement that resolves a long-running Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over an alleged cost-shifting scheme concerning health plan administrative fees for chiropractic and physical therapy treatment; the deal includes gross amounts of $4.8 million for members of individual and plan classes and a separate $3.55 million for attorney fees and costs.

  • September 05, 2025

    9th Circuit Transfers Fee Issue In Facebook Cybersquatting Trademark Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO  — Without providing explanation, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a motion filed by Instagram LLC and Facebook Inc., now known as Meta Platforms Inc., (collectively, Meta) to transfer consideration of attorney fees on appeal to a district court in Meta’s trademark infringement suit against multiple Chinese-based companies for their alleged cybersquatting by using domain names purportedly infringing on Meta’s trademarks.

  • September 03, 2025

    Briefly: Class Seeks Approval Of $15M Deal In Securities Fraud Case About Pipeline

    PHILADELPHIA — The lead plaintiffs in a long and winding securities fraud class action related to the construction of a hydraulic fracturing pipeline on Sept. 2 filed a brief in Pennsylvania federal court seeking final approval of a class action settlement for a cash payment of $15 million.

  • September 02, 2025

    Hawaii Supreme Court: Company Director Is Due Indemnification, Fees On Fees

    HONOLULU — In answering two questions of first impression, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that a director of a development company is due indemnification and recovery of “fees on fees” for his challenge of the company’s loyalty clause in the context of conflict of interest.

  • September 02, 2025

    1st Circuit: Consumers Didn’t Prevail In Antitrust Litigation, Aren’t Due Fees

    BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said that two consumers who sued to block the merger of two airlines are not prevailing parties because the merger was enjoined through a lawsuit brought by the federal government and several states.

  • September 02, 2025

    Judge Trims Attorney Fees, Prejudgment Interest Rate In LTD Lawsuit

    NEW YORK — Saying in part that the requested 21.8% prejudgment interest rate “is far outside the norm in this District,” a New York federal judge awarded modified amounts totaling $230,083.65 for attorney fees and $139,497.54 for prejudgment interest in a long-term disability (LTD) case in which the claimant won $928,954.90 in retroactive benefits.

  • September 02, 2025

    3rd Circuit: NFL Player’s Attorney Gets Costs, No Fees After Concussion Settlement

    PHILADELPHIA — A retired National Football League (NFL) player’s former counsel is entitled to costs only, not fees, for its efforts in representing the players in a now-settled concussion injury multidistrict litigation, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a special master’s recommendation that was adopted by a trial court judge.

  • September 02, 2025

    Panel Affirms Ruling Denying Attorney Fees Request In Dispute With Property Insurer

    MIAMI — A Florida appellate court affirmed a lower court order denying attorney fees to a homeowner who previously obtained final judgment in her favor in a coverage dispute with her property insurer, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which describes itself on its website as Florida’s “insurer of last resort,” citing case law affirming lower court orders where an appellant failed to appropriately raise issues before the trial court.

  • September 02, 2025

    Judge Approves $3.1M Deli Meat Class Settlement, $1.03M In Attorney Fees

    WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A New York federal judge granted final approval of a $3.1 million class settlement in a Boar’s Head lunch meat listeria contamination case and approved a motion for $1.03 million in class counsel fees for six plaintiff law firms.

  • August 29, 2025

    After Fraud Suit Cert Denial, Judge Won’t Toss Attorney Fee Order For Over $1M

    PORT HURON, Mich. — Approximately 10 months after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari by the owner of medical clinics in State Farm’s no-fault fraud and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) suit against him and related parties, a Michigan federal judge denied the owner’s motion for relief from a district court order awarding $1,271,937.23 in attorney fees and $2,855.27 in costs against him, finding no neglect on the part of the owner’s former counsel.