Home Depot Gets Another Look at Data Breach Attorneys’ Fees

Counsel for the class that successfully sued Home Depot Inc. following a 2014 credit card data breach will have to have their fee award recalculated, the Eleventh Circuit said July 25.

Home Depot settled with financial institutions holding the affected accounts for $25 million. The trial court approved attorneys’ fees of $15.7 million, in addition to the settlement fund.

But the trial court abused its discretion in arriving at that number, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said. It multiplied the amount calculated by the lodestar method—$11.7 million—by 1.3, to account for increased litigation risks class counsel ...