A New Jersey appeals court on Tuesday overturned a $99,000 legal fee on a plaintiff’s $650 recovery in a consumer fraud case, finding the trial court’s measurement scales askew.
The appellate panel said the judge below in Walker v. Giuffre, A-2942-08, improperly used his own personal experience to gauge the hourly rate the plaintiffs lawyer was to receive for work on the case, a putative class action suit accusing Route 22 Nissan Inc. and other car dealerships of fraudulently inflating fees contained in sales contracts.
