Class Lawyers’ $4.3 Million Fee in Leaky Toilet Case Thrown Out

Attorneys who achieved a pair of class settlements over allegedly fracture-prone Vortens toilet tanks, but only for some of the models and manufacturing years targeted in the suit, aren’t entitled to a $4.3 million fee award covering work on all the tanks, the Fifth Circuit ruled.

The lower court failed to separate billing for successful and unsuccessful claims against Porcelana Corona de Mexico SA de CV, the company that makes Vortens toilets, the appeals court said Monday in a split opinion. It also didn’t scrutinize the fee award in comparison to the important factor of “results obtained” for the class, ...