Thomas v. Mekruth Inc.
- Lewis Liman
- 1:19-cv-01566
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Thomas v. Mekruth Inc., Judge Liman approved class counsel’s $500,000 request for attorneys’ fees and costs from a wage-settlement fund.
The ruling directly affected class counsel, whose request for $500,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs was approved, and the class members whose settlement fund included that amount.
What happened
In Qwame Thomas v. Mekruth Inc., class counsel asked the court to approve $500,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs after the court had approved a wage-and-hour class-action settlement under federal and New York law.
The settlement created a $1.5 million fund for about 282 class members, settlement expenses, service awards, and attorneys’ fees and costs. After the 180-day deadline for cashing checks, class members had cashed approximately 96% of the net settlement amount. Counsel’s request was one-third of the gross settlement and reflected a 2.44 multiplier of counsel’s time-based fee calculation.
Judge Lewis J. Liman approved the full $500,000 request, finding that experienced counsel had devoted substantial time to a risky case, achieved a very good result for the class, and requested a reasonable amount within the range approved in the district.
The detailed version
- Thomas v. Mekruth Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-01566
- Lewis Liman
- Oct. 10, 2022
Background
Qwame Thomas moved for approval of class counsel’s application for $500,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs. The underlying case was a wage-and-hour class action brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law. The court had previously approved a settlement after finding that its terms were fair, reasonable, and adequate for the parties and class members, and resulted from arm’s-length negotiations between experienced counsel.
The settlement created a $1.5 million fund for approximately 282 class members, service awards, settlement administration costs, and attorneys’ fees and costs. Class members had 180 days to cash their checks; uncashed or unclaimed amounts would revert to the defendants. The court had set aside $500,000 for fees and costs but postponed deciding whether the request was reasonable until the check-cashing period ended.
Fee application
Class counsel reported that class members had cashed checks totaling approximately $670,821.52, or 96% of the $698,257.37 net settlement fund after federal and state withholdings. Of 283 checks distributed, 215 were cashed, 68 were uncashed, and 34 were undeliverable. Eight of the undeliverable checks were later partially cashed after class counsel hired an investigator to locate class members.
Counsel requested the full $500,000 in fees and costs. The request equaled one-third of the gross settlement amount and represented a 2.44 multiplier of a lodestar of $204,635. A lodestar is a fee calculation based primarily on the lawyers’ reasonable hours multiplied by reasonable hourly rates.
Ruling
The court evaluated the application under the factors from Goldberger v. Integrated Resources, Inc. It found that experienced counsel had spent significant time on a case involving risk, achieved a very good result for the class, and requested a fee that was reasonable and within the range approved by courts in the Southern District of New York. Judge Lewis J. Liman therefore approved the request for $500,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.
Disposition
The application for attorneys’ fees and costs was approved in the amount of $500,000.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.