The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals has shot down class action law firm Milberg’s bid to boost its lawyer fees from the settlement of shareholder litigation against Nortel Networks, reports the New York Law Journal.
Southern District of New York Judge Richard Berman awarded the firm $38m (£20.4m), or around 3% of the settlement funds, in January 2007. In rejecting Milberg’s request for 8.5%, or around $101m (£54m), the judge said a 3% award already gave the firm twice what it would have received under an hourly lodestar calculation and that the challenges and complexities of the case were “not significantly different or greater” than others.
