Ex-NFL Player Gets $1.2 Million for Lawyers After Disability Win

A former National Football League player won $1.2 million in attorneys’ fees, plus up to $600,000 in additional fees if the case is appealed, after he successfully sued the league plan for disability benefits, a Texas federal court ruling shows.

Michael Cloud “handily” won his lawsuit, “defying the odds while facing extraordinary difficulties along the way,” Judge Karen Gren Scholer said in a Monday opinion awarding Cloud more than $1.2 million in attorneys’ fees—an “upward enhancement” of about 20% from his requested fee of just over $1 million. The increase is warranted because Cloud obtained “exceptional success” against a defendant ...