Court Nixes Class Settlement Approval for Lack of Representatives’ Standing to Seek Key Injunctive Relief
Posted on Apr 28, 2023 in Class Actions | Comments Off on Court Nixes Class Settlement Approval for Lack of Representatives’ Standing to Seek Key Injunctive Relief
The Eleventh Circuit recently vacated approval of a class settlement which included, as an integral part, injunctive relief that no class representative had Article III standing to seek. Williams v. Reckitt Benckiser LLC, 2023 WL 2906311 (11th Cir. Apr. 12, 2023), was brought on behalf of a class of individuals who purchased “brain performance supplements” under the brand name Neuriva....
No Tiebreaker Necessary: Breaking with the Federal Circuit, Court Holds That Litigation Can Result in No “Prevailing Party” for Cost and Fee Shifting
Posted on Jul 17, 2022 in Civil Procedure | Comments Off on No Tiebreaker Necessary: Breaking with the Federal Circuit, Court Holds That Litigation Can Result in No “Prevailing Party” for Cost and Fee Shifting
In Royal Palm Properties, LLC v. Pink Palm Properties, LLC, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 18682 (11th Cir. July 7, 2022), the Eleventh Circuit held that there may be no prevailing party for the purposes of post-verdict cost and fee shifting. A unanimous appellate panel affirmed a district court’s denial of a litigant’s motion for costs and fees, finding that the jury’s split verdict resulted in...
Eleventh Circuit Affirms Approval of (Almost) All of Equifax Data Breach Settlement
Posted on Jun 17, 2021 in Class Actions | Comments Off on Eleventh Circuit Affirms Approval of (Almost) All of Equifax Data Breach Settlement
In In re: Equifax, Inc. Customer Data Sec. Breach Litig. (Huang v. Equifax, Inc.), 2021 WL 2250845 (11th Cir. June 3, 2021), the Eleventh Circuit upheld the district court’s approval of a class settlement arising out of the Equifax data breach – except for the incentive awards to the class representatives, as to which the court reversed the district court in light of Johnson v. NPAS...
ERISA’s Fee-Shifting Provision Permits Awards Against Parties, Not Attorneys
Posted on Apr 14, 2021 in Employment Law and Employee Benefits | Comments Off on ERISA’s Fee-Shifting Provision Permits Awards Against Parties, Not Attorneys
Does ERISA’s fee-shifting provision, 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(1), permit a court to award fees against a party’s counsel? Deciding this issue of first impression that has divided district courts within and without the Eleventh Circuit, the court in Peer v. Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston, 2021 WL 1257440 (11th Cir. Apr. 6, 2021), held that it does not. Although the...
No Multiplier for Home Depot Class Action Lodestar Fee Award
Posted on Jul 29, 2019 in Class Actions | Comments Off on No Multiplier for Home Depot Class Action Lodestar Fee Award
In a class action settlement, one of the most difficult issues for negotiation is often how—and how much—class counsel will be paid. In many cases, a cap on the fee is negotiated: the defendant agrees not to object to a fee application within the cap, which can be a percentage of the so-called “common fund” received by the class in the settlement, or a fixed amount. Less common is...