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Mealey's Attorney Fees

  • November 18, 2025

    Federal Circuit Points To Weakness Of Claims In Affirming Patent Row Fees

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Tennessee federal judge’s decision to grant more than $100,000 in attorney fees to a small grocery chain, finding no abuse of discretion in the judge’s finding that a plaintiff security technology company had a pattern of bringing frivolous patent infringement claims.

  • November 18, 2025

    N.C. Judge Approves $2.45M Website Tracking Software Settlement With Health System

    RALEIGH, N.C.  — A North Carolina state court judge on Nov. 17 approved a class action settlement between patients and former patients of a hospital system and the hospital system in a suit asserting that software on the hospital’s website captured their information and sent it to Facebook without their consent, finding that the $2.45 million settlement “is fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interest of the settlement class.”

  • November 18, 2025

    Walmart Seeks $745K In Attorney Fees From Plaintiff’s Counsel In Avocado Oil Case

    LOS ANGELES — Walmart Inc. on Nov. 17 filed a brief in California federal court asserting that it is entitled to $745,422.75 in attorney fees from two attorneys who represented a plaintiff in a putative class action against Walmart for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by deceptively marketing avocado oil, and against whom the court ordered sanctions after finding that they acted “recklessly” and in “subjective bad faith” by bringing a frivolous lawsuit.

  • November 17, 2025

    Deponent Ordered To Pay More Than $60,000 For Fees, Costs In Health Plan Case

    CHICAGO — An Illinois federal magistrate judge who previously determined that a deponent’s “obstructive and combative behavior and dilatory tactics” warranted three extra hours of deposition and monetary sanctions awarded more than half of the $105,875.20 requested for related attorney fees in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action that challenges the expenses and allocations by trustees of a nationwide multiemployer health plan.

  • November 14, 2025

    2nd Circuit: Vt. Law Misapplied When Attorney Fees Reduced In Termination Suit

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in Vermont properly reduced attorney fees for an employee’s counsel in a wrongful termination case after determining that the counsel’s billing was unreasonable; however, the judge’s additional reduction based on the worker’s degree of success was incorrect as it was based on the disproportionality of the requested amount to the monetary relief for the worker, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, vacating the attorney fee award and remanding for recalculation.

  • November 12, 2025

    Judge Confirms More Than $118,000 Attorney Fee Award In Venezuelan Airline Dispute

    MIAMI — A Florida federal magistrate judge recommended that an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) award resolving a Venezuelan airline shareholder dispute be confirmed, including a more than $118,000 attorney fees award against the respondent for “‘reproachable’” conduct, but declined to award more attorney fees after finding the respondents’ litigation tactics were valid and that any conduct issues were already penalized by the tribunal.

  • November 12, 2025

    Iowa Supreme Court Finds Application For Attorney Fees Timely, Affirms Award

    DES MOINES, Iowa — There is nothing under Iowa law that “establishes a specific procedure or deadline to claim statutory attorney fees,” the Iowa Supreme Court held, affirming an award of attorney fees in a quiet-title dispute despite the application being filed after the deadline to appeal the decision had lapsed.

  • November 11, 2025

    Parkland Shooting 1 Occurrence Under Excess Policy, 11th Circuit Affirms

    ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 10 affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insured in its lawsuit seeking coverage for underlying negligence suits arising from a 2018 shooting spree at a Parkland, Fla., high school, finding that the term “occurrence” is ambiguous and must be construed in favor of the insured and the lower court correctly determined that shooting was one occurrence under the policy.

  • November 11, 2025

    High Court Won’t Consider If Car Named ‘Eleanor’ Is A Copyrightable Character

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 10 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari in a copyright dispute over a Ford Mustang known as “Eleanor” in the film “Gone in 60 Seconds,” declining to consider whether the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals wrongly held that the car is not a copyrightable character under a test within the circuit.

  • November 10, 2025

    Senior Living Center Owner Wins Reversal Of Attorney Fee Award To Tenant In Default

    AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas appellate panel reversed a trial court’s award of attorney fees to a tenant against the owner of a senior living center that sued him for nonpayment of rent, finding that the lower court abused its discretion by determining that the tenant was entitled to attorney fees as prevailing party after the property owner filed nonsuit because the tenant’s back rent had been paid off by charitable organizations.

  • November 10, 2025

    Ga. Panel Majority Vacates, Remands $13.7M Attorney Fee Award In Malpractice Suit

    ATLANTA — A panel majority of the Georgia Court of Appeals vacated and remanded a trial court’s $13.7 million attorney fee award entered in favor of the claimants in a medical malpractice suit after determining that the trial court abused its discretion because the award included attorney fees that were incurred on appeal, which is not supported under Georgia’s offer of settlement statute.

  • November 10, 2025

    S.D. High Court Affirms Auto Coverage Dispute Ruling Involving Social Media Search

    PIERRE, S.D. — The South Dakota Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling denying judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) to an auto insurer and granting an insured’s request for attorney fees in a dispute over underinsured motorist benefits (UIM) after a jury returned a verdict in favor of the insured, finding that the lower court did not err in denying JMOL because a jury could have found that the insurer did not act reasonably in denying the UIM claim in part because the claim review did not go beyond examining documents supplied by the insured and a review of his social media accounts.

  • November 10, 2025

    6th Circuit’s Attorney Fee Ruling Should Be Remanded For Review, USDA Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court should grant certiorari to vacate a split Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ panel opinion that affirmed the denial of a Tennessee farmer’s request for attorney fees and remand the farmer’s suit for further consideration in light of the high court’s decision in Lackey v. Stinnie, 604 U.S. 192 (2025), which was issued after the Sixth Circuit’s opinion, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says in response to the farmer’s petition for writ of certiorari.

  • November 10, 2025

    U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Consider Attorney Fee Questions In Precedent Clash

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 10 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a former congressman seeking review of an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision that affirmed a district court’s ruling that granted defendants $740,710 in attorney fees in a case that hinged on allegations of harassment and defamation.

  • November 07, 2025

    Texas Panel Says Mineral Rights Contract Not Breached In Fracking Dispute

    CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Texas appellate court panel on Nov. 6 affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of a hydraulic fracturing operator in an oil and gas dispute, saying that it was “not persuaded” by a mineral rights company’s understanding of the contract the parties entered into. The panel said that the evidence “conclusively establishes that the parties expressly agreed to fix the drilling unit of each well” to a particular tract of land such that the joint operating agreement (JOA) had not been breached.

  • November 07, 2025

    Federal Judge Grants Final Approval Of $1.35M Settlement Of Data Breach Suit

    BALTIMORE — A Maryland federal judge granted final approval of a $1.35 million settlement of negligence, contractual and other claims in a consolidated lawsuit brought against a health care provider following a 2023 data breach, holding that the “settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate” and satisfies the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.

  • November 06, 2025

    Ransomware Data Breach Class Suit Resolved With $1.9M Settlement

    MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal judge entered judgment after granting final approval to a $1.9 million settlement resolving class claims including for violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) against a data hosting vendor on behalf of individuals whose personal data was hacked during a ransomware attack on the vendor’s accounting and health care customers, with the plaintiffs’ counsel awarded more than $633,000 in attorney fees.

  • November 05, 2025

    Health Care Data Breach Settlement Giving Up To $5,000 Per Claimant Wins Approval

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee has determined that a settlement of class claims over a health care provider’s 2023 data security incident is “fair, reasonable, and adequate,” making official the judge’s prior ruling that granted preliminary approval to an agreement that provides payments of up to $5,000 for each claimant in the settlement class. The judge also approved attorney fees and expenses totaling $3.1 million.

  • November 04, 2025

    Attorneys Seek Payment Of Fees In Insurance Magnate Money Laundering Case

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. —  Legal counsel for insurance magnate Greg Lindberg filed motions and briefs in North Carolina federal court seeking court approval for payment of fees in a case in which Lindberg pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy regarding his $2 billion scheme to defraud insurers and policyholders by funneling money through his extensive global network of insurance companies and was convicted on retrial in a related criminal proceeding.

  • November 04, 2025

    Ithaca College Pays $1.5M To Settle Students’ Pandemic Closure Class Suit

    BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Ithaca College (IC) will pay $1.5 million to end a student’s class complaint accusing the school of retaining tuition paid for campus-based in-person education and services that were not provided in spring 2020 when the school transitioned to remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a settlement agreement approved by a federal judge in New York.

  • November 03, 2025

    Federal Judge Skips LTD Claimant’s Fees Tangle With Her Own Attorneys

    NEW YORK — Declining to exercise ancillary jurisdiction over a fee issue that involves a retainer agreement, a New York federal judge said that doing so in the otherwise concluded case concerning long-term disability (LTD) benefits “would require the Court to decide entirely new claims and would not result in judicial economy.”

  • October 30, 2025

    Kentucky Federal Judge Grants Remand Of LTD Claim That Insurer Overlooked

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Citing a 2012 ruling, a Kentucky federal judge granted remand to a long-term disability (LTD) insurer’s claims administrator in a case where the plaintiff’s claim was overlooked for months because of an employee’s procedural mistake; the judge also said that it appears that the claimant “is eligible to receive a fee award because she has achieved some degree of success on the merits by virtue of the remand order.”

  • October 30, 2025

    Senior Living Facilities’ Disability Access Class Settlement Given Final OK

    OAKLAND, Calif. — The for-profit operator of three California senior living facilities accused of failing to make the sites accessible for people with disabilities will bring the interior and exterior common areas into compliance with the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Standards (ADAS) for accessible design in the next five years as part of a class settlement approved by a federal judge in California.

  • October 30, 2025

    Stay Entered After Model Appeals Dismissal Of Unfair Image Use By Adult Websites

    LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge entered an order staying deadlines for defendants to seek attorney fees pending the outcome of a model’s appeal to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in which she seeks to challenge the court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of defendants that she claims harmed her and caused distress by using her image online to market adult websites in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL).

  • October 28, 2025

    Judge Approves $138.75M Settlement Between Investors, Mining Company

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted final approval of a $138.75 million settlement between investors and a mining company and two executives who allegedly violated federal securities laws by making false and misleading statements about the progress of a mine’s construction.