“Simply not appropriate.”

That's what U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer had to say Wednesday about the $28.5 million fee request from plaintiffs firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro for the work it led on the diesel emissions settlement between Volkswagen AG and its franchise dealers. Breyer slashed the request by nearly 90 percent, awarding just under $3 million in attorney fees.

Volkswagen, which paid $1.2 billion to settle the case, had protested the fee demand. In particular, the automaker accused managing partner Steve Berman of double counting billable hours that advanced both the dealer case and a separate diesel emissions case on behalf of consumers. Breyer, who presided over both cases in the Northern District of California, agreed.