In re Plantronics, Inc. Securities Litigation

Background

Lead counsel moved for an award of attorneys’ fees and payment of litigation expenses in connection with a class-action settlement. The court held a hearing on August 21, 2025. Notice of the fee request was mailed to settlement-class members who could be identified with reasonable effort, and a summary notice was published in The Wall Street Journal and transmitted through PR Newswire.

The court stated that it had an independent duty to determine whether the requested fees were reasonable. It considered the percentage-of-the-common-fund method, the results achieved, the risks of litigation, the skill and quality of counsel’s work, the contingent nature of the representation, awards in similar cases, the settlement class’s reaction, and a lodestar cross-check. A lodestar cross-check compares a percentage-based fee with the estimated value of the attorneys’ time.

Ruling

The court awarded lead counsel attorneys’ fees equal to 22% of the Settlement Fund, or $6,490,000, plus interest earned at the same rate as the Settlement Fund. It also awarded $593,198.12 for litigation expenses. The amounts were to be paid from the Settlement Fund.

The court found that the Settlement Fund totaled $29.5 million in cash and that numerous settlement-class members who submitted acceptable claim forms could benefit from the settlement. It also found that counsel had worked on a purely contingent basis for approximately five years without compensation, devoted more than 20,500 hours to the case, and had a lodestar value of approximately $11.785 million through July 19, 2024. The awarded fees represented a 0.55 multiplier of that lodestar, which the court found supported the reasonableness of the award. The court also noted that the fee award was below the Ninth Circuit’s 25% benchmark for percentage-of-recovery awards and that no objections were submitted.

The court ordered that 90% of the fee award, or $5,841,000, and all approved expenses be paid immediately upon entry of the judgment approving the settlement and the fee order. The remaining 10%, or $649,000, plus any interest, would be paid after distribution of the net settlement fund to eligible claimants and filing of a post-distribution accounting. The court retained exclusive jurisdiction over matters involving administration, interpretation, implementation, or enforcement of the settlement and the order. It stated that any appeal or challenge concerning the fee and expense application would not affect the finality of the judgment, and it ordered that docket entry 242 be terminated.

Judge

Judge Jon S. Tigar signed the order on August 25, 2025.