Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST—NDCal: $20,400,000 Attorneys’ Fees Request Approved in TFT-LCD Antitrust Litigation, (Jan 16, 2013)

By Tobias J. Gillett, J.D., LLM.

The federal district court in San Francisco has granted the direct purchaser plaintiff’s counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees of over $20 million, as well as costs in the amount of over $3 million and $95,000 in incentive awards to the class representatives, from a settlement fund resulting from a direct purchaser class action complaint alleging that manufacturers of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display panels had engaged in a global price-fixing conspiracy (In re: TFT-LCD (Flat Panel) Antitrust Litigation, January 14, 2013, Illston, S.).

The attorneys’ fees award represented 30% of the $68,000,000 settlement fund to be paid by two of the defendants, AU Optronics Corp. and Toshiba Corp. The court considered this amount “fair and reasonable under the ‘percentage of the fund’ method.” A lodestar cross-check based on 46,763.90 hours of work and a collective lodestar of over $23 million revealed a negative multiplier of 0.86, a number the court viewed as well below ranges courts in the Ninth Circuit had previously approved.

The court saw “an upward departure from the Ninth Circuit’s benchmark of 25%” as “justified” because of the risk associated with the case, the amount and sophistication of the work performed, and the “extraordinary results achieved for the Class.” The case involved a six-week jury trial on a contingent-fee basis, with extensive motion practice and trial work and “no ultimate guarantee of success.”

The court also granted the request for over $3 million in costs and expenses, although only about $2.5 million would be reimbursed, the remainder having been addressed through accounting adjustments to the litigation fund. The court approved the award of $95,000 in incentive awards to the representative plaintiffs, with four plaintiffs that testified at trial receiving $15,000 each, and seven others receiving $5,000 apiece.

The case is No. M 07-1827 SI, MDL No. 1827.

Attorneys: Daniel L. Warshaw (Pearson, Simon, Warshaw & Penny LLP) for Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs. Christopher M. Curran (White & Case) for Toshiba Corp. John C. McGuire (Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold) for AU Optronics Corp. America.

Companies: Toshiba Corp.; AU Optronics Corp. America.

Cases: Antitrust CaliforniaNews