| Lexmark Settled With
Oklahoma Firefighters Whose Lawyers Want $1300
an Hour in SDNY
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Jan 7 – Lexmark was
alleged to have inflated its
stock with claims about its
laser printers. It was the
Oklahoma Firefighters Pension
and Retirement System that
sued. And now as
they settle, their lawyers
want $1300 an hour, see below.
On June 11, U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge William H. Pauley III
held a proceeding. Inner City
Press covered it.
The case
waas moving toward final
settlement.
At first
Judge Pauley suggested the
next proceeding for December
2, but a lawyer pushed back.
Now on January 7,
settlement approved but
too-high attorneys fees dug
into: "The Proposed Settlement
resolves the entire litigation
for a cash payment of $12 8
million. (ECF No. 122.) No
objections have been lodged.
(ECF No. 147.) In addition,
Lead 9 Counsel seeks
attorneys’ fees in the amount
of 25% of the settlement fund
($3 million), plus 10
$201,357.78 in litigation
expenses First, the
allocation of 14 time is
heavily weighted toward
partners. Of the 32 attorneys
who billed, 16 were partners.
15 (Robbins Decl., Ex. A; Fox
Decl., Ex. A.) Those 16
partners accounted for nearly
47% of the 16 hours billed by
Lead Counsel. (Robbins Decl.,
Ex. A; Fox Decl., Ex. A.)
Moreover, the hourly 17 rates
for some partners were higher
than any hourly rates this
Court has previously seen. 18
Specifically, 5 of the 16
partners who billed had hourly
rates exceeding $1,000, and
the rate for 19 two of them
exceeded $1,300 per hour.
(Robbins Decl., Ex. A; Fox
Decl., Ex. A.) Lead Counsel 20
asserts that the more
expensive partners were used
primarily in an advisory role,
but this explanation is
insufficient. 1 21 (Tr. of
Fairness Hearing, ECF No. 156,
at 8–9.) Further, the
hourly 1 It is generally
helpful for counsel to submit
contemporaneous, detailed time
records as part of their
initial motion for attorneys’
fees. See William B.
Rubenstein, 5 Newberg on Class
Actions § 15:6 (5th ed. 2020).
A court should not have to
request billing
records...Applying the
Goldberger factors and
recognizing that a modest
adjustment is 17 appropriate,
this Court awards a total
attorneys’ fee of $2,880,000,
which represents 24% of the 18
Settlement Fund. These
attorneys’ fees may be
disbursed from the CRIS
account once 75% of the net
settlement fund2 19 has been
distributed. See Bank of Am.,
318 F.R.D. at 28; Beane v.
Bank 20 of N.Y. Mellon, 2009
WL 874046, at *9 (S.D.N.Y.
Mar. 31, 2009)."
The case is
Oklahoma Firefighters Pension
and Retirement System v.
Lexmark International, Inc. et
al., 17-cv-5543 (Pauley).
***
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