Mealey's Attorney Fees : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Attorney Fees

September 25, 2025
Illinois Supreme Court Reverses Fees Judgment In Sovereign Immunity Spat

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Reversing a judgment that required an Illinois state agency to pay $10,639.21 in attorney fees and costs under the Illinois Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act (Confidentiality Act), the full Illinois Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion finding that the lower court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because there was no “express statutory waiver of sovereign immunity in” the Confidentiality Act.
September 24, 2025
Judge Approves $300,000 Settlement In Securities Action Over False Statements

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York granted final approval of a $300,000 settlement in a securities class action brought by investors against an aerospace-based communication network product company and two of its executives that alleged that the company provided materially false and misleading statements about its production yields and their impact on the company’s revenue growth.
September 24, 2025
Judge Talks Attorney Fees Justification In Granting Final OK To $7.9M ERISA Deal

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Devoting several pages to explaining why he overruled the lone objection to awarding a third of the $7.9 million class settlement for attorney fees, a Connecticut federal judge granted final approval to the deal resolving an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case concerning alleged underperformance that the plaintiff claimed was caused by a now-bankrupt hedge fund management company directing all the assets of its 401(k) plan into proprietary hedge and mutual funds that used “alternative” investment strategies.
September 23, 2025
Magistrate Judge OKs Attorney Fees In Case Where She Ordered LTD Claim Remanded

SAN FRANCISCO — Saying in part that the balance of the considerations outlined in Hummell v. S.E. Rykoff & Co. supports the request, a California federal magistrate judge granted the requested $139,770 in attorney fees and costs in a long-term disability (LTD) case where she previously concluded “that the plan did not follow the administrative rules or apply the correct plan definition” and remanded “without ordering reinstatement of the policy or an award of retroactive payments.”
September 19, 2025
Nicaragua Wins Summary Judgment On $1.5M Attorney Fees And Costs Award

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted the Republic of Nicaragua’s motion for summary judgment against parties that were ordered by a tribunal to pay Nicaragua $1.5 million in attorney fees and arbitration costs after their treaty-based claims against it were rejected but said Nicaragua must obtain default judgment against two other defendants and voluntarily dismiss its claims against other non-appearing defendants that have not yet been served.
September 18, 2025
Hawaii Supreme Court Applies PAG Doctrine In Awarding Attorney Fees

HONOLULU — Applying Hawaii’s private attorney general (PAG) doctrine in consolidated cases, the Hawaii Supreme Court ordered developers of condominium hotel projects to pay attorney fees and costs totaling $112,721.10 to a labor union that filed cases the court said established “important legal principles” regarding the Hawaii Environmental Policy Act (HEPA) “and related regulations that benefit many in our state.”
September 18, 2025
Settlement Of Over $20.5M Wins Final OK In Medical Benefits For Retirees Case

SAN FRANCISCO — Noting that the claims relied “on evidence of oral misrepresentations and a lack of written plan amendment purporting to terminate the at-issue retiree medical benefits,” a California federal magistrate judge granted final approval to a $20,545,000 settlement under which the average gross recovery for members of the opt-out settlement class is estimated at $30,710.01.
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 International 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.