Samora v. Chase Dennis Emergency Medical Group, Inc.
- Beth Freeman
- 5:20-cv-02027
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 4
In Samora v. Chase Dennis Emergency Medical Group, Inc., Judge Freeman awarded class counsel $810,287.28 more in fees, granting the request in part and denying it in part.
The ruling directly affected Class Counsel’s fee award and concerned fees drawn from the common fund created for the class; defendants opposed the request.
What happened
Samora v. Chase Dennis Emergency Medical Group, Inc. concerned Class Counsel’s request for additional attorney’s fees related to a supplemental class-action settlement. Defendants opposed the request.
The court considered the initial $4.9 million settlement fund and the preliminarily approved supplemental settlement amount of $3,829,149.10. Applying a 25% benchmark to the combined fund, the court calculated a total reasonable fee of $2,182,287.28.
Judge Beth Labson Freeman granted the fee request in part and denied it in part. Because Class Counsel had already received $1,372,000, the court awarded an additional $810,287.28 in attorney’s fees.
The detailed version
- Samora v. Chase Dennis Emergency Medical Group, Inc. · No. 5:20-cv-02027
- Beth Freeman
- Aug. 4, 2023
Background
This order addresses Class Counsel’s request for additional attorney’s fees connected to final approval of a supplemental class-action settlement. The court stated that a separate order would address final approval of that settlement. Defendants opposed the fee request.
The court had previously awarded Class Counsel $1,372,000 in fees for the initial settlement. That award represented 28% of an initial common fund of $4,900,000 and a 2.64 multiplier of the attorneys’ lodestar. A lodestar is the reasonable number of hours worked multiplied by reasonable hourly rates, sometimes adjusted by a multiplier.
Class Counsel requested an additional $1,072,161.75. Counsel stated that this represented 28% of a supplemental gross settlement amount of $3,902,926.97, but the court noted that it actually represented 28% of the $3,829,149.10 supplemental amount that the court had preliminarily approved. The court used the $3,829,149.10 figure.
Fee analysis
Because the settlements created a common fund for the class, the court used the percentage-of-recovery method. Under that method, attorney’s fees are calculated as a percentage of the fund recovered for the class. The court explained that the Ninth Circuit’s usual benchmark is 25%, although courts may adjust that percentage when special circumstances make it unreasonable.
The court considered the entire common fund, including the initial and supplemental settlements. The combined amount was $8,729,149.10. The court concluded that no more than the 25% benchmark was warranted, resulting in a total reasonable fee of $2,182,287.28.
The court also used a lodestar cross-check. Class Counsel reported 900.4 hours of attorney and paralegal time, totaling $614,761 in fees. The court found the hours reasonable and the hourly rates consistent with fee awards in the district for attorneys of comparable experience and quality. The total award would produce a 3.55 multiplier, which the court found appropriate.
Disposition
The court found that Class Counsel was entitled to $2,182,287.28 in total fees for the case. After subtracting the $1,372,000 already awarded, the court determined that Class Counsel was entitled to an additional $810,287.28.
The request for attorney’s fees was GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Class Counsel was awarded $810,287.28 in attorney’s fees.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.