Attorneys Get $112.5M as NFL Players Await Concussion Payouts

Attorneys representing professional football players in the concussion class action against the National Football League will take home $112.5 million.

The performance of class counsel has been “extraordinary” and the fees requested are “well earned,” Judge Anita B. Brody wrote April 5 for the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The award represents 11 percent of the settlement fund. The fund is uncapped, so the figure was based on its net present value of $982.2 million. The total estimated value of the settlement over its lifetime is now $1.5 billion.

The fee award comes as some brain-injured players complain they haven’t yet seen payouts from the settlement.

The claims administrator says 369 claims have been processed, totaling $400 million, the court found. “With money now flowing to class members, it is appropriate for the court to compensate class counsel,” the court said.

The $112.5 million award comprises $106.8 million in fees and $5.7 million in litigation expenses.

Contingency fees for individually retained plaintiffs’ attorneys are capped at 22 percent of the player’s payout, the court held in a separate opinion. Nearly half of the players have their own own attorneys.

The court also approved $100,000 service awards to each of the three class representatives, Corey Swinson, Shawn Wooden, and Kevin Turner.

The case is In re Nat’l Football League Players & Concussion Injury Litig., 2018 BL 120011, E.D. Pa., No. 12-2323, fee request granted 4/5/18.