Judge Awards $112.5M in Total Attorney Fees in NFL Concussion Case
The judge has reserved for a later time her determination of the exact amount each firm will receive for its respective efforts.
April 05, 2018 at 04:26 PM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The Legal Intelligencer
Attorneys who helped hammer out the $1 billion settlement between the National Football League and former professional football players suffering cognitive injuries have been awarded $112.5 million for their work. But, the judge has reserved for a later time her determination of the exact amount each firm will receive for its respective efforts.
U.S. District Judge Anita Brody of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Thursday awarded class counsel $106.8 million in attorney fees and $5.7 million in costs in the NFL concussion case. The amount conforms to class counsel's request, and is also the number the NFL had agreed to pay without objection as part of the settlement.
In making the ruling, Brody lauded class counsel's efforts, noted that class attorneys billed more than 50,000 hours for their work on the settlement, and said the award is only 11 percent of the total settlement.
“The performance of class counsel regarding this complex settlement has been extraordinary,” Brody said, noting that more than 20,000 class members are registered to participate in the settlement and more than 360 claims valuing over $400 million have been approved. “The fees requested here are well-earned.”
Individual class counsel attorneys have requested as much as $70 million for their firm, but Brody said that issue, along with determining how much the court should withhold from players' individual awards to cover costs and fees of implementing the settlement, “will be determined at a later date.”
In footnotes, Brody said she plans to make a determination regarding fee allocation to the individual firms after reviewing the numerous responses and replies that have been filed. She added it will likely take a year to determine how much money should be held back from players' individual awards.
“The court hopes to address this issue once more data regarding the scope of implementation work is available—ideally in one year,” Brody said in a footnote.
Class counsel have asked the court to hold back 5 percent of the awards to cover implementation costs.
Brody also determined Thursday that fees for individually retained attorneys should be capped at 22 percent. The ruling adopts the recommendations from William Rubenstein, a Harvard professor who had been appointed by the court to consider the issue.
Individually retained attorneys are lawyers who represent the injured players, but are not part of class counsel. Brody said their fees should be capped because “it is undeniable that all [individually-represented plaintiffs' attorneys] have benefited from class counsel's work.”
Brody added that she will grant deviations above the 22 percent cap only “in exceptional or unique circumstances.”
In October, Seeger Weiss attorney Chris Seeger, who is co-lead class counsel in the case, requested that the court allocate more than $70 million to his firm. The money, according to the request, would compensate Seeger Weiss for a total of 21,044 hours his firm spent on the litigation since he was appointed to represent the class in 2012.
Attorneys from more than 15 firms, including Anapol Weiss, which is home to Seeger's co-lead class counsel, Sol Weiss, subsequently challenged Seeger's proposal.
“We appreciate the court's consideration of this matter. The settlement is on track to cost the NFL hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars more than they anticipated,” Seeger said in an emailed statement. “We will make sure that former NFL players and their families receive every benefit they are entitled to under this agreement.”
Weiss did not return a message seeking comment.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllCase Over Fatal Phila. Food Truck Explosion Resolved in $160M Pretrial Accord
Seeger Weiss Awarded $51M in Fees for 'Landmark' NFL Concussion Settlement
Lancaster Jury Awards $4M Over Misdiagnosis of Infant's Fatal Whooping Cough
Justices Weigh Waiver in Wrongful Death Case Over Drowned Triathlete
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.