Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST—C.D. Cal.: Attorney fees allowed in Korean air line antitrust class action litigation, (Dec 27, 2013)

By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.

In a class action by consumer air passengers against two foreign airlines for engaging in a conspiracy to fix prices in air passenger travel, the federal district court in Los Angeles has granted the plaintiffs an award of attorney fees and reimbursement of expenses (In re Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. Antitrust Litigation, December 23, 2013, Otero, S.).

Consumer air passengers filed suit against Korean Air Lines, Co., Ltd. and Asiana Airlines, Inc., alleging a conspiracy by the defendants to fix the prices of air passenger travel, including increasing the costs for passenger airfare and the fuel surcharge added to airline tickets, for international flights between the U.S. and Korea, from January 2000 to August 2007. The parties eventually entered a stipulation for settlement. The plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary approval of the settlement was granted in July 2013. Subsequently, the plaintiffs filed a motion for an award of attorney fees and reimbursement of expenses.

The plaintiffs’ application for an award of attorney fees requested an amount equal to 25 percent of the cash portion of the settlement funds and 25 percent of the coupon portion of the settlement funds, plus reimbursement for costs and expenses.

The court found that the settlement conferred substantial benefits on the class members and the requested amount of fees was fair, appropriate, and reasonable. The fees also were fully justified by (1) the results achieved by the settlements; (2) the substantial risks and complexity of the litigation; (3) the contingent nature of the fees and financial burden on plaintiffs’ counsel; (4) the length of time the litigation was pending; (5) awards in similar cases; (6) the non-monetary benefits of the settlements; (7) the reaction of class members; and (8) the work of plaintiffs’ counsel and the attorneys’ fee lodestar incurred in prosecuting the litigation.

Additionally, the settlements were negotiated in good faith and reached following extensive, arm’s-length negotiations. The court also found that the objections to the fee application were without any merit because the objectors lacked standing to object. Finally, the unreimbursed costs and expenses incurred by the plaintiffs’ counsel were reasonable and necessary to the prosecution of the litigation, the court concluded.

The case is No. CV 07-05107.

Attorneys: Mario Alioto (Trump, Alioto, Trump & Prescott LLP) for Martin Kaufman. Steve Berman (Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, LLP) for James Van Horn. Vincent J. Esades (Heins, Mills & Olsen, PLC) for Sook Yung Lee. Peter E. Halle (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP) for Korean Airlines Co., LTD

Companies: Korean Air Lines, Co., Ltd.; Asiana Airlines, Inc.

Cases: Antitrust CaliforniaNews