|  | | 2008 News and Press Releases | | |
HEADLINE NEWS:
Judge Trashes Requests For Extra Attorneys' Fees
Shannon Henson
Securities Law 360. May 7, 2008
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EXCERPT: Months after awarding more than $107 million in attorneys' fees to Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP for its work in a securities class action against Cardinal Health Inc., a judge has pushed back a bid by some who demanded to be paid for filing objections to the requested fees. In an order Monday, Judge Algenon Marbley of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio denied the monetary requests filed by two sets of objectors, saying the duo did not benefit the class. The judge said that class actions sometimes attract those in the legal profession who “subsist primarily off of the skill and labor of, to say nothing of the risk borne by, more capable attorneys. These are the opportunistic objectors. “Although they contribute nothing to the class, they object to the settlement, thereby obstructing payment to lead counsel or the class in the hope that lead plaintiff will pay them to go away. Unfortunately, the class-action kingdom has seen a Malthusian explosion of these opportunistic objectors, which now seem to accompany every major securities litigation. Such is the case here.” A lawyer with Smith & Alspaugh, P.C., which was counsel for objector William Smith, asked for $6.66 million. Attorney Edward F. Siegel and others for joined Smith's petition on behalf of objectors Ronald and Vondell Tyler, Susan Browne, and the Murphy Family foundation, but requested $3.7 million. The motions by the two objector groups said that they helped the judge determine that Coughlin Stoia's request for 24% of the $600 million settlement was unreasonable. In late December, Judge Marbley awarded 18% to the firm instead, and the objectors argued that the reduction was prompted by their briefing and cross-examination of lead counsel's expert witness at the fairness hearing. The objectors argued that their work ultimately saved the class $37 million in attorneys' fees. |
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