Lower Fee Award Recommended in Humana, Cotiviti Data Breach Case

Lawyers who settled a class action against Humana Inc. and health care analytics company Cotiviti Inc. over a privacy breach should recover a little less than the $300,000 in attorneys’ fees they asked for, according to a US District Court for the Middle District of Florida report and recommendation.

An award of $300,000, equal to 37.5% of the class’s common fund, was unreasonable given how quickly the case was settled, Magistrate Judge Sean P. Flynn said, recommending an award of $220,000, or 30% of the fund, instead.

The lawsuit was filed June 17, 2021. The parties filed a joint notice of a settlement with the court on March 16, 2022.

• The lawyers said they spent 167.4 hours on the case, for a total billable cost of $158,585.00, so the requested award would have represented 1.39 times their total billable fee
• Although a 1.39 multiplier is within the reasonable range for a contingency fee in a complex class action, this lawsuit proceeded to settlement quickly
• The court said that attorney risk is probably the “foremost” factor that a court considers, and that there was some inherent risk to bringing the data breach lawsuit, but was satisfied that 30% of the fund was enough

Cotiviti Inc. is represented by Baker & Hostetler LLP.

Humana Inc. is represented by Squire Patton Boggs LLP.

The class is represented by Morgan & Morgan PA and Ryan Maxey Law PA, both of Tampa, Fla.

The case is Farmer v. Humana Inc., M.D. Fla., No. 8:21-cv-1478, 12/28/22.