The Court considered an award of attorneys’ fees to class counsel, who had settled eleven separate antitrust class actions, including one in North Carolina.
The value of the settlement to the North Carolina class was slight. The Court observed that it was a cost of litigation settlement of approximately three cents on the potential dollar of liability, which resulted in a benefit of $1.23 per class member, which it characterized as a "poor result."
The Court declined to follow the lead of the other Courts which had ruled on fee awards for the settlement (which had allowed a 25% fee), and followed the hybrid approach that it had adopted in the Senergy case. After extensive analysis, the Court awarded a fee of approximately 10%.