Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: O’Bannon attorneys seek $50.2M from NCAA in fees, expenses, (Oct 22, 2014)

By Greg Hammond, J.D.

Attorneys for the current and former college athlete plaintiffs in the O’Bannon v. NCAA case have filed a motion for attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses today, seeking over $50.2 million from the NCAA. The motion follows the Oakland, California federal district court’s order, enjoining the NCAA from enforcing its prohibition on student-athlete compensation for the use of their names, images, and likenesses in television broadcasts and video games (O’Bannon v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, Case No. 4:09-cv-3329 CW).

According to its motion, O’Bannon’s attorneys are seeking $44,972,406.95 in attorneys’ fees, as well as $5,277.209.29 for Clayton Act recoverable costs and expenses. Included in the Clayton Act costs and expense are taxable costs of $205,320.29.

The attorneys, from Hausfeld LLP, argue that the NCAA should pay for their attorneys’ fees and costs because: (1) their historical hourly rates are reasonable and reflective of the prevailing market rates; (2) the rates are reasonable given the novelty and complexity of the issues, the special skills and experience of counsel, the quality of the plaintiffs’ representation, the results achieved, and the high risk of non-recovery; (3) the total numbers of hours are reasonable; (4) the costs and expenses are reasonable and of the kind that are typically billed to clients; and (5) the case is exceptional, warranting an upward adjustment.

The court is currently scheduled to decide the attorneys’ fees issue on February 19, 2015.

Attorneys: Michael D. Hausfeld, Hilary K. Scherrer, Sathya S. Gosselin, Swathi Bojedla, Michael P. Lehmann, and Bruce J. Wecker (Hausfeld LLP) for Edward C. O’Bannon, Jr.

Companies: National Collegiate Athletic Association

News: Antitrust CaliforniaNews