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November 12, 2026
ST. LOUIS — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a lower court’s judgment against a former employee who was found liable for misappropriating his former employer’s trade secrets when he left to work for a competitor, but vacated an attorney fee award because the lower court did not consider whether the company’s degree of success justified the fees awarded.
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November 12, 2026
PHILADELPHIA — A split Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an attorney fee award to voters whose mail-in ballots were counted under a court order, holding that they remained prevailing parties and, thus, entitled to fees, even though the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently vacated the underlying judgment on mootness grounds.
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November 11, 2026
WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware Chancery Court vice chancellor on Nov. 10 adopted a magistrate’s report with clarification and ruled in favor of a U.S. fintech company’s former CEO who brought a claim against the company for advancement of attorney fees that he has incurred and will continue to incur while arbitrating a dispute before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) that was brought against him by the U.S. company and an Israeli company that purchased it.
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November 11, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — A split panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s finding that the United States is liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for a hostage’s fatal shooting by a federal agent during an unsuccessful rescue operation but ordered restoration of the original $1,915,000 damages award, with attorney fees limited to 25% of that recovery, finding that the lower court erred by increasing the damage award to accommodate attorney fees.
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November 11, 2026
PHOENIX — The Arizona Supreme Court held that homeowners who defeated a neighbor’s suit to enforce an antinuisance covenant were entitled to reasonable attorney fees under the mandatory fee provision of the covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs), finding that the CC&Rs were enforceable as contractual obligations even though common law also prohibits nuisances.
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November 06, 2026
OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal judge in California gave final approval to a $69 million settlement that ends a securities fraud class action brought by investors alleging that a biopharmaceutical company and its CEO made false statements about the safety, efficacy and application for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of its proprietary vasculitis drug.
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November 05, 2026
ATLANTA — Following final approval of a $47.75 million class deal under which class members will have an average gross recovery of more than $252,000, a Nov. 4 judgment entered in Georgia federal court wrapped up a long-running suit over lump-sum payments from terminated “top hat” plans that had provided life annuities for NCR Corp. executives.
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November 05, 2026
NEW YORK — Tylenol manufacturer Kenvue Brands LLC urged the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to uphold sanctions against Keller Postman LLC and Ashley C. Keller and reject their request to reassign the acetaminophen autism spectrum disorder-attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ASD-ADHD) multidistrict litigation, arguing that the trial judge acted within her discretion.
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November 04, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted final approval of a $47.75 million settlement to end a securities class action alleging that Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. (HEI) and certain executives inflated the company’s stock price by misleading investors about its efforts to mitigate wild fire risk before the August 2023 Maui fires but cut the amount of requested attorney fees from 30% of the fund to 20% after finding problems with the counsel’s billing.
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November 04, 2026
OAKLAND, Calif. — Noting that only one of the 220 class members had opted out of the settlement in the decade-old Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over severance benefits, a California federal judge issued a final approval order under which class members will receive payments totaling more than $9,531,455 and class counsel will separately get $3.5 million for attorney fees and costs.
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October 30, 2026
BALTIMORE — Overruling objections, a Maryland federal judge granted final approval to a class settlement implementing rescoring of neuropsychological test scores to resolve a suit former NFL players filed over what they alleged was “race-norming” of the scores used to determine whether they receive disability and related benefits.
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October 29, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals consolidated two appeals filed by a construction products supplier challenging a California federal judge’s award of attorney fees and costs and denial of judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) and judgment on a verdict awarding an African American employee $5 million in noneconomic damages after establishing a hostile work environment based on race under Title VII and based on race or disability under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).
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October 27, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO — American Honda Motor Company Inc.’s nearly year-and-a-half appeal of a trial court’s award of attorney fees and costs that was much larger than the monetary settlement for a consumer class who alleged defective HandsFreeLink (HFL) Bluetooth systems in certain Acura vehicles that cause excessive electric drain was terminated by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after the parties notified the appellate court that they reached a settlement.
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October 23, 2026
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — In an insurer’s suit seeking a judgment finding a policy void and that the insurer was entitled to rescind the policy for alleged misrepresentations in the policy application, a New York appellate court ordered modification of the lower court’s judgment to delete a dismissal provision and replace the provision effectively denying fees with one granting the fee application, finding that the defendants are entitled to attorney fees and costs.
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October 23, 2026
PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge granted final approval to a $3.03 million privacy class action settlement with LifeStance Health Group Inc., including more than $1 million in attorney fees, after previously denying preliminary approval of an earlier agreement over concerns about inadequate settlement valuation, disproportionate attorney fees and potential collusion.
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October 22, 2026
SEATTLE — A day after conducting a fairness hearing in a case that was among the many challenging a common use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions, a Washington federal judge on Oct. 21 issued an order granting final approval of a settlement with an estimated value of $42,724,532 and approving the requested awards of $5,880,539 for attorney fees, $24,461 for litigation costs and $5,000 as a service award to the named plaintiff.
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October 21, 2026
BOSTON — Resolving cross-appeals in a presumptive total disability insurance case where the claimant partly prevailed after a jury trial and a bench trial, the Massachusetts Appeals Court issued a summary decision declining to disturb any of the challenged rulings but concluding that the claimant was entitled to unspecified attorney fees and expenses in defending against the insurer’s appeal as to a state law claim.
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October 16, 2026
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court is considering whether the Montana Board of Environmental Review has jurisdiction in an administrative proceeding under the Montana Strip and Underground Mine Reclamation Act to award attorney fees against conservation groups that the board found acted in bad faith in order to harass a mining company.
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October 16, 2026
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida appeals court affirmed a lower court’s ruling denying homeowners’ motion to enforce the attorney fees and costs portion of a settlement reached with their now-insolvent insurer after the lower court determined that those fees and costs are not considered a covered claim under Florida law “even if they were part of a global settlement” reached with the insurer before its insolvency.
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October 16, 2026
PITTSBURGH — A federal magistrate judge in Pennsylvania ordered that parties’ bonds remain in place in a dispute over intellectual property rights related to a fudge recipe while the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals mulls appellate attorney fees; a partially split appeals court panel in July affirmed an award of attorney fees against plaintiff entities for their unsuccessful copyright and trademark claims in the dispute and affirmed their jury victory on trade secret claims.
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October 16, 2026
HONOLULU — The Hawaii Supreme Court partially affirmed an order governing the award of attorney fees in cases related to the 2023 Maui fires, upholding the lower court’s authority to establish the fee framework and a $222 million common benefit fund but vacating three provisions that restricted juridical review of fee awards.
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October 16, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A False Claims Act relator filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the court to determine whether postjudgment interest on attorney fees begins when a judgment establishes a plaintiff’s entitlement to fees or when a later judgment quantifies the fee award, saying an appellate panel’s ruling on the issue “deepens an entrenched circuit split.”
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October 16, 2026
DETROIT — A Michigan bank agreed to pay $31.5 million — including $10.5 million in attorney fees, $311,690.80 in litigation costs and monetary relief and credit monitoring for class members — in a class action settlement after the bank experienced two cyberattacks resulting in data breaches impacting more than 2.18 million employees and customers whose data was compromised.
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October 15, 2026
GREEN BAY, Wis. — After a Wisconsin federal judge for a second time granted summary judgment of patent invalidity to a defendant eyeglass company, the company is requesting the judge find the patent infringement case against it to be exceptional and award it attorney fees.
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October 15, 2026
SHERMAN, Texas — In an amended memorandum opinion, a Texas federal judge awarded guitar maker Gibson Inc. more than $4 million in attorney fees and costs from a company a jury held infringed trademarked guitar shapes, finding that fees were warranted based on the jury’s finding that the defendant entity intentionally infringed and counterfeited the trademarks.