The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed a $78.75 million award for class counsel in a $350 million settlement against T-Mobile, concluding a multiplier of nearly 10 times the attorneys’ hourly rate—upwards of $9,500—was unreasonable.
In a July 29 opinion, authored by Judge Morris S. Arnold, the three judge panel sent the plaintiffs’ attorney fee award back to the the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri following multi-district litigation against T-Mobile relating to a data breach. An estimated 76.6 million people were affected when hackers obtained confidential information and sold or attempted to sell it.
