IN RE NATERA PRENATAL TESTING LITIGATION

Background

This class action began in February 2022 when plaintiffs Amanda Davis and Amanda Law filed separate complaints against Natera, Inc., alleging that Natera falsely advertised its noninvasive prenatal tests (referred to in the opinion as "NIPTs"). The court consolidated the two actions in April 2022. By May 2022, a consolidated complaint was on file on behalf of Davis, Law, and four additional plaintiffs — Sara Martinez, Lillian Delaurie, Laura Ashley Heryla, and Yelena Kreynstein — asserting claims for fraudulent concealment, breach of implied warranty, unjust enrichment, and violations of state consumer protection statutes. A First Amended Consolidated Complaint later added plaintiff Chelsey Stevens.

Natera moved to dismiss the consolidated complaint; the court denied that motion in part in March 2023. The parties then conducted extensive fact and expert discovery over approximately two years, including Natera's production of roughly 27,000 documents and the litigation of multiple discovery disputes. Natera maintained throughout that its tests were highly reliable and accurate, and denied withholding material information.

In February 2025, with the assistance of a mediator (Honorable Ronald M. Sabraw), the parties reached a settlement including a cash payment of $8,250,000 and non-monetary relief. In a separate order, the court approved the settlement as fair, reasonable, and adequate and certified the settlement class.

The Fee Motion

Court-appointed class counsel moved on June 22, 2026, for: (1) attorneys' fees of 30% of the settlement fund ($2,475,000) plus accrued interest; (2) reimbursement of $200,051.97 in out-of-pocket expenses; and (3) service awards of $10,000 for each of the eight class representatives ($80,000 total).

Attorneys' Fees Analysis

Percentage-of-Recovery Method

In the Ninth Circuit (the federal appellate court covering California), courts may award fees in class action settlements using either the percentage-of-recovery method or the lodestar method. The benchmark under the percentage method is 25% of the fund. Courts may depart from that benchmark by examining: (1) results achieved; (2) litigation risks; (3) skill and quality of counsel; (4) contingent nature of the fee; and (5) awards in comparable cases.

The court found factors (1) through (3) and (5) supported an upward departure to 30%:

- Results: The settlement recovered nearly 25% of plaintiffs' preliminary estimated damages, which the court found to fall within or exceed typical recoveries in similar cases. - Risks: The court identified substantial risks at the class-certification, summary-judgment, and trial stages, including the likelihood of a contested battle of experts given the evolving science around prenatal testing and potential individualized issues that could have defeated class certification. - Skill: Counsel prosecuted the case over more than three years against capable defense counsel, incurring over $3.1 million in attorney time and $200,051.97 in out-of-pocket costs with no guarantee of payment. - Contingency: The court noted that because most class actions are litigated on contingency, this factor does not independently support an above-benchmark award. - Comparable awards: A 30% fee is within the range of approved awards in the Ninth Circuit.

Lodestar Cross-Check

Using the lodestar method, counsel reported 4,300 hours and a resulting lodestar (hours × rates) of $3,108,507.50 as of the December 8, 2025 preliminary-approval date. The requested fee of $2,475,000 is approximately 80% of that lodestar — a "negative multiplier" (meaning counsel is asking for less than their calculated hourly value). Courts in this district have recognized that a negative multiplier strongly suggests reasonableness. The reported lodestar was also conservative, as it did not include time spent after preliminary approval.

The court found counsel's hourly rates — ranging from $800–$1,500 for partners (with over 97% billed at $1,250 or less), $425–$750 for associates, $450–$900 for staff attorneys, and $250–$525 for litigation support staff — to be consistent with rates approved in complex class actions in this district. The lodestar was calculated using current billing rates, which the Ninth Circuit has endorsed as appropriate to account for the delay in receiving payment in contingency cases.

Expenses

The court granted the full $200,051.97 expense reimbursement, finding the amount reasonable in light of the case's complexity and the types of costs incurred (consistent with categories routinely approved in this district, such as expert fees, mediator fees, document review, electronic research, and travel).

Service Awards

Class counsel requested $10,000 per class representative ($80,000 total). The court granted service awards of $7,500 per representative ($60,000 total), granting this portion of the motion only in part.

The court noted that $5,000 is the presumptively reasonable service award in this circuit, and that above-benchmark awards are supported where the record shows genuine risk of workplace retaliation (common in employment cases) or that a representative bore an extraordinary discovery burden. Neither showing was made here.

The court credited the class representatives' contributions — including regular communication with counsel, obtaining medical records, and disclosing sensitive personal medical information with attendant risks of stigma and reputational harm — but found those contributions did not rise to the level justifying a departure from the $5,000 benchmark.

Instead, the court grounded the $7,500 figure in inflation adjustment: $5,000 in February 2012 (when the $5,000 benchmark was articulated in Harris v. Vector Mktg. Corp.) has the same buying power as approximately $7,300 as of July 2026, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator. The court therefore treated $7,500 as an inflation-adjusted equivalent of the benchmark, not an upward departure from it.

Disposition

The court: - Granted class counsel's motion for attorneys' fees at 30% of the settlement fund plus accrued interest, with 10% of that award withheld pending a post-distribution accounting filed and approved by the court. - Granted class counsel's request for $200,051.97 in litigation expense reimbursement. - Granted in part the service award request, awarding $7,500 per class representative ($60,000 total) rather than the requested $10,000 per representative ($80,000 total).