The payment of $112,475 in attorney fees for class counsel has been approved by a federal judge in a case involving the alleged non-payment of overtime and gratuities to housekeepers and banquet workers at the Otesaga resort in Cooperstown. Northern District Judge Mae D’Agostino (See Profile) found on Dec. 4 that the class counsels led by the Leon Greenberg Professional Corporation of Las Vegas “risked time and effort and advanced costs and expenses, with no ultimate guarantee of compensation” in the suit.
D’Agostino said the fees represented 20.45 percent of the “modest” $550,000 settlement, which she approved in September, and is consistent, if not on the low side, of fee awards in similar recent Second Circuit cases. The award amounts to $250 an hour for the 448 hours that attorney Leon Greenberg said his firm and the Gabroy Law Firm of Henderson, Nev., expended on the litigation. D’Agostino also approved $15,000 in service awards to the attorneys in Elliot v. Leatherstocking, 3:10-cv-0934.
