Hagens Berman Sees $47 Million Fee Award Nixed in New Test (1)

The Ninth Circuit detailed a new attorneys’ fee review rule and vacated a $47.9 million award made to Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP in connection with its role as lead counsel for a class of consumers alleging that manufacturers of optical disk drives engaged in price fixing.

The district court abused its discretion, the panel concluded Friday, by failing to explain why the award was substantially in excess of the bid originally submitted by the firm to win appointment as lead counsel.

In vacating the award, the court articulated a new rule for evaluating the reasonableness of a request for ...