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Mealey's Attorney Fees

  • August 29, 2025

    $2.8B Provider Class Settlement With Blue Cross Insurers Wins Final Approval

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Attorneys for an opt-out health care provider class were granted their requested $657,160,000 for fees and $102,059,478.49 for expenses in a $2.8 billion settlement that also provides “extraordinary injunctive relief,” an Alabama federal judge said in granting final approval to the deal in a multidistrict antitrustcase against the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and its member plans (collectively, BCBSA or the Blues).

  • August 29, 2025

    $8.5M Settlement OK’d In Worker’s Suit Alleging Calif. Wage-And-Hour Violations

    LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California granted final approval of an $8.5 million class and representative settlement, ending wage-and-hour claims brought by one employee under California law against an engineering conglomerate accused of failing to provide meal and rest breaks, overtime and minimum wages and expenses.

  • August 28, 2025

    5th Circuit: Reinsurer’s Late Notice Of Litigation Constitutes Prejudice

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a Texas federal court’s ruling in a reinsurer’s appeal of a $2,866,423.97 judgment that includes attorney fees, ruling that an insurer’s months-late notice of its involvement in underlying class action litigation constituted a material breach of its quota share treaty with the reinsurer and violated the contract’s notice provision, depriving the reinsurer of its right to participate in the defense and establishing prejudice as a matter of law.

  • August 27, 2025

    2 Class Settlements Totaling $60 Million Get Final OK In Church Plan Suit

    JACKSON, Tenn. — A Tennessee federal judge has granted final approval to class settlements initially grossing $60 million before interest in multidistrict litigation over a religious denomination’s retirement plan, also awarding attorney fees of a third of that amount and a $20,000 service award to each of the 10 named plaintiffs; claims against numerous nonsettling defendants remain.

  • August 25, 2025

    Judge Grants Contractor, Homebuilder’s Motion For Attorney Fees

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida adopted a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation granting a general contractor and homebuilder’s motions for entitlement to attorney fees following a summary judgment ruling in their favor in a commercial liability insurer’s lawsuit seeking a declaration as to coverage for construction-related damages at a condominium development.

  • August 25, 2025

    Mining Company Must Pay Mexico’s Attorney Fees After Consolidation Denied

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a split consolidation tribunal’s order rejecting the United Mexican States’ request to consolidate two arbitration claims brought against it by a Canadian mining investor and ordering the investor to pay Mexico more than $632,000 in attorney fees, citing the fact that it seeks to withdraw its second claim after more than a year of consolidation proceedings.

  • August 22, 2025

    11th Circuit: Traveler Prevailed In Confiscation Case, Is Due Fees, Costs

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed denial of a motion for attorney fees and costs, finding that an air traveler who had $8,500 confiscated by federal agents “substantially prevailed” in his effort to claim the money after the government voluntarily dismissed the case.

  • August 22, 2025

    Alaska High Court: Full Attorney Fees Not Due Absent Constitutional Ruling

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court ruling that the owners of oil and gas leases are not due their full attorney fees for challenging the release of data about nearby oil and gas wells, agreeing that under state law, the appellants did not invoke a constitutional issue and that they were due only a standard 20% fee.

  • August 20, 2025

    No Fees For Publisher That Overcame Copyright Judgment Before 5th Circuit

    AUSTIN, Texas — Adopting a federal magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, a Texas federal judge denied attorney fees to a publishing company that saw the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacate a summary judgment of copyright infringement against it after a panel held that the Canadian civil codes it was accused of illegally copying were effectively uncopyrightable “law” in the country.

  • August 20, 2025

    10th Circuit Affirms $62,430 Fee Award, Other Rulings Against Pro Se Appellant

    DENVER — Issuing an unpublished order on two appeals that sprang from the same case, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal and summary judgment rulings against a man who filed a pro se suit over the fallout from an externship he took part in after suffering a stroke as a law student; the panel also upheld an order requiring the man to pay one defendant $62,430 for attorney fees, which was half of what the defendant had sought.

  • August 20, 2025

    College Gets Final OK To Settle Data Breach Suit For Up To $3,500 Per Person

    SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Almost five months after preliminarily approving the settlement of a putative class action over a 2023 data breach experienced by an upstate New York college, a New York federal judge granted final approval to the settlement, which boasts an uncapped settlement with an estimated value of $44,720,782.68, including out-of-pocket expenses, credit monitoring and injunctive relief in the form of enhanced data privacy measures on the school’s part.

  • August 19, 2025

    Federal Judge Again Finds Contempt In Long-Running Jarred Sauce Trademark Row

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge held the owners of a city pizzeria named Patsy’s Pizzeria and their counsel in contempt in a long-simmering trademark infringement dispute over packaged sauces launched in 1999 by another New York restaurant, Patsy’s Italian Restaurant, after they again violated an injunction by applying for “Patsy’s” marks.

  • August 19, 2025

    Tribunal Improperly Awarded $46M, Including $20M In Attorney Fees, Company Says

    NEW YORK — In a fiery petition to vacate an International Chamber Commerce (ICC) award filed in New York federal court on Aug. 18, a Mexican construction company says the tribunal’s $46 million award against it and in favor of Honeywell International Inc. and its subsidiary was improper on numerous grounds, including that the tribunal failed to properly explain an “offensive” $20.9 million award of attorney fees and costs.

  • August 18, 2025

    Panel Affirms Coverage Issue, Reverses Attorney Fees Award In Injury Coverage Suit

    NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s judgment declaring that a subcontractor’s commercial general liability insurer has a duty to indemnify a property owner in an underlying personal injury lawsuit that occurred during construction at the premises but reversed the lower court’s award of attorney fees in favor of the property owner’s insurer.

  • August 18, 2025

    5th Circuit Affirms Discovery Sanctions For Uninformed Deposition Witness

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has affirmed discovery sanctions, including $31,836.70 in attorney fees, against a Mexican national after the owner of a Texas home where the national lives responded to a deposition notice by sending a sales representative who couldn’t answer questions about the purchase of the home; in a separate but related appeal, the same panel affirmed the trial court’s denial of the national’s motion to quash a subpoena for foreign discovery.

  • August 15, 2025

    2nd Circuit Affirms Co-Ownership Of ‘Zioness’ Mark, Vacates Fee Denial

    NEW YORK — A panel in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a federal jury’s finding that two pro-Zionist advocacy groups were the co-owners of the trademark “Zioness,” holding that sufficient evidence supported a finding that there was overlap of use of the mark before its registration.

  • August 14, 2025

    Insured Appeals, Insurer Seeks Attorney Fees In Coverage Suit Over Fatal Shooting

    GREAT FALLS, Mont. — An insured filed a notice of appeal of a Montana federal court’s finding that a liquor liability insurance policy’s Absolute Firearms Exclusion bars coverage for an underlying negligence action arising from a fatal shooting at the insured’s bar the same day the insurer moved for attorney fees incurred in the underlying action.

  • August 14, 2025

    Texas Federal Judge Rejects Fees For Microsoft After Patent Judgment

    AUSTIN, Texas — A federal judge in Texas denied Microsoft Corp.’s motion for attorney fees in a patent infringement suit filed against it, despite a federal magistrate judge’s recommendation that Microsoft’s motion be partially granted; the judge disagreed with the magistrate judge’s assessment that the plaintiff company’s post-discovery conduct did not justify finding that the case was “exceptional.”

  • August 13, 2025

    $299,000 Class Deal Wins Final OK In ERISA Row Over Plan’s Tobacco Surcharge

    CHICAGO — Resolving an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over annual $1,152 surcharges imposed on about 431 health plan participants who use tobacco, an Illinois federal judge on Aug. 12 gave final approval to a $299,000 class settlement and made awards in the amounts requested, including $99,666.67 for attorney fees and a $5,000 case contribution award.

  • August 13, 2025

    Judge Trims Fees, Service Awards In $7.15M Class Settlement Of ERISA Case

    BOSTON — With a Massachusetts federal judge granting final approval, an Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit over a profit sharing plan settled on a class basis for $7.15 million with a reported average gross recovery of $89,000; however, the judge awarded reduced attorney fees and service awards.

  • August 11, 2025

    Split 5th Circuit Affirms Fee Denial To Game Makers In Wrestler’s Copyright Suit

    NEW ORLEANS — A split Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel disagreed on whether a retired professional wrestler’s copyright infringement suit against several video game companies was objectively unreasonable, with the majority ultimately determining that a Texas federal judge did not abuse discretion in denying attorney fees to the gaming entities after a jury found no infringement of the wrestler’s comic book character by the game makers.

  • August 11, 2025

    $6.9M Settlement Gets Final OK In ERISA Imprudence Row Over Fees And Funds

    CHICAGO — An Illinois federal magistrate judge granted final approval to a $6.9 million class settlement of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit involving recordkeeping fees and proprietary target date funds (TDFs); according to retirement plan participants, the gross amount is “approximately 12% to 38% of damages” estimated by their expert.

  • August 08, 2025

    Sanctions, Judgment For Probate Lawyers’ Discovery Failings Affirmed By Panel

    HOUSTON — A Texas appeals court panel found that two lawyers’ repeated objections to a probate court’s jurisdiction were “a transparent attempt to avoid even basic discovery regarding the merits,” leading the panel to affirm the lower court's “death penalty” sanctions that resulted in the striking of pleadings and entry of default judgment against the attorneys in a dispute over a $10 million fee retention for a property sale under a contingency fee agreement in violation of a restraining order.

  • August 08, 2025

    Kanye West Says More Sanctions Not Needed In Copyright Infringement Suit

    LOS ANGELES — Kanye West tells a California federal court that further sanctions are unnecessary in a copyright infringement suit involving accusations he lifted samples for songs on his album “Donda,” disagreeing with an artist revenue entity’s assertion that a deposition shows that West and business entities associated with him had made false statements about discovery to the court.

  • August 07, 2025

    5th Circuit Affirms Attorney Fee, Cost Award, Garnishment In FLSA Case

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has affirmed a $188,164 attorney fee and cost award in consolidated wage lawsuits against a home health care provider, finding that the award was reasonable, that the trial court did not err in granting the plaintiffs’ motion for garnishment and that the defendant’s due process rights were not violated by the fee award.