Ford v. WSP USA, Inc.
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:19-cv-11705
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Ford v. WSP USA, Inc., Judge Schofield approved the settlement, granted counsel $48,750 including costs, and directed the case closed.
The settlement affects Harold Ford and the other Plaintiffs, WSP USA, Inc., and Plaintiffs’ counsel. The fee ruling directly affects Plaintiffs’ counsel and the amount remaining for distribution to Plaintiffs.
What happened
In Ford v. WSP USA, Inc., the parties submitted a settlement agreement for the court’s approval. Their initial submission did not include counsel’s time records or an expense breakdown.
Plaintiffs’ counsel later submitted those materials to support the request for attorneys’ fees. The opinion states that the settlement concerned Plaintiffs’ claims and the risks and expenses of further litigation.
Judge Lorna G. Schofield approved the settlement as fair and reasonable, granted counsel’s request for $48,750 including costs, directed that the remaining settlement amount be distributed to Plaintiffs, and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.
The detailed version
- Ford v. WSP USA, Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-11705
- Lorna Schofield
- Aug. 23, 2022
Background
On August 1, 2022, the parties filed a joint letter and settlement agreement. The submission did not include contemporaneous time records or a breakdown of Plaintiffs’ counsel’s expenses. On August 15, 2022, Plaintiffs’ counsel filed a supplemental letter with contemporaneous time records and a breakdown of counsel’s fees.
Rulings
The court approved the settlement agreement as fair and reasonable. It relied on the nature and scope of Plaintiffs’ claims and the risks and expenses involved in additional litigation.
The court also granted Plaintiffs’ counsel’s request for $48,750, inclusive of costs. The court found that amount fair and reasonable in light of counsel’s quality, the risks of litigation, and the magnitude and complexity of the litigation. The amount was approximately 40 percent of the lodestar calculation and approximately one-half of the settlement. A lodestar is the reasonable hourly rate multiplied by the reasonable number of hours required for the case.
The remainder of the settlement was ordered distributed to Plaintiffs. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.