Opinion
3:17-cv-01012-JD
08-18-2023
CODY MEEK, et al. Plaintiffs, v. SKYWEST, INC. and SKYWEST AIRLINES, INC., Defendants.
ORDER RE ATTORNEYS' FEES AND COSTS
JAMES DONATO, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
The Court granted final approval of the class action settlement. Dkt. No. 203. Attorneys' fees and costs, and a “service” award to the named plaintiffs, are ordered on the following terms. The Court has used a proposed order lodged by plaintiffs and modified according to the Court's conclusions and practices.
1. The Court declines to award the fee request of $1,216,550, which is 29% of the $4,195,000 Settlement Fund. The informal guideline in our circuit is 25%. This is not at all a binding allocation, or a figure that needs to be applied in every case. Each case is to be evaluated on its own. In this case, the Court has concluded that the settlement amount is reasonable. The fee award should be proportionate to that result. To be sure, work was done to prosecute the case, but the Court cannot say that the work exceeded what would be reasonably required in cases of this sort. Consequently, a 25% award is appropriate, which amounts to $1,048,750.00.
2. The Court awards $145,029.59 in unreimbursed costs. The costs were reasonably incurred for the litigation and the benefit of the class.
3. The request of “incentive awards” of $5,000 for each class representative is denied. The Court has written extensively in other decisions on the need to avoid unwarranted disparites in recovery between unnamed class members and class representatives. See also Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(e)(2)(D). Even crediting the representatives with undertaking litigation support work, a $5000 recocery is grossly disproprotional to the class. Consequently, the Court awards $1,500.00 to each named representative.
4. Counsel for plaintiffs are ordered to reserve 25% of the fee award in the common fund until released by the Court. The Court will consider a release after counsel file a post-distribution accounting as provided for in our District's class action settlement guidelines. See https://cand.uscourts.gov/forms/procedural-guidance-for-class-action-settlements/.
IT IS SO ORDERED.