Apple MacBook Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Get $15 Million for Class Deal

Plaintiffs attorneys in litigation against Apple Inc. over MacBook “butterfly” keyboards were awarded $15 million in fees for their work negotiating a $50 million class settlement.

Consumers alleged a physical defect in the laptop keyboards allows dust to get in, making some keys inoperable. The fee request, along with the nationwide deal covering owners of about 15 million computers, were approved Thursday by Judge Edward J. Davila of the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

• The $15 million fee exceeds the Ninth Circuit’s 25% benchmark for attorneys’ fees in a class action, but is still reasonable in ...