In Laffitte v. Robert Half International Inc., No. S222996 (Aug. 11, 2016), the California Supreme Court held, in an employment class action lawsuit, that when attorney fees are awarded to class counsel from a common fund, that the award is not per se unreasonable because it is calculated as a percentage of the common fund, as opposed to pursuant to a lodestar calculation.
Continue Reading California Supreme Court Approves Attorney Fee Awards Calculated Based Upon Percentage of Class Action Common Fund

In Collado v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., Nos. 11-57013, 11-57023, 11-57030 (9th Cir. Dec. 16, 2013), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s attorneys’ fees award in a class action settlement alleging malfunctioning Toyota Prius headlights.  The Ninth Circuit held that the district court incorrectly applied federal law instead of state law to determine the amount of recoverable attorneys’ fees.  The district court should have used California’s lodestar method (reasonable hours times reasonable rates) and not the federal percentage of recovery method (25% benchmark).
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Rejects Percentage Method To Determine Attorneys’ Fees In Class Action Settlement