Attorneys challenging $78 million in legal fees stemming from a data breach class action settlement with T-Mobile urged a U.S. appeals court on Tuesday to throw out the "windfall" award, arguing it made up an oversized share of the $350 million settlement fund.
“This is exactly the kind of case that causes the public to scoff at class actions,” attorney Robert Clore told the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “My client gets 25 bucks and these attorneys are walking away with $7,000 to $10,000 per hour.”
A judge in Kansas City, Missouri, approved the accord and granted fees worth 22.5% of the $350 million fund for the class lawyers, denying the challengers' objections at the lower court.
The three-judge appeals panel probed both sides during Tuesday's hearing, trying to assess whether the objections were in “bad faith” or based on legitimate concerns that the fee award was excessive.
One of the class attorneys, Bradley Wilders, told the panel that the challengers were "serial" class action objectors who were motivated by financial self-interest.
Wilders in an earlier filing said class counsel so far had invested more than 9,100 hours in the litigation. “Of the more than 76 million Class members, only two appealed,” he wrote.
Clore, Wilders and T-Mobile did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Another lawyer who challenged the fee amount, John Pentz, in an email on Tuesday said the trial court was "hostile to objectors rather than welcoming them."
The cases are Daruwalla v. Hampe, 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 23-2744; and Daruwalla v. Pentz, same court, No. 23-2798.
For objectors: Robert Clore of Bandas Law Firm; and John Pentz
For class: Norman Siegel and Bradley Wilders of Stueve Siegel Hanson; James Pizzirusso of Hausfeld; and Cari Campen Laufenberg of Keller Rohrback
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