|
|
Article: Is $922 an hour too much?: Everyone agreed on DuPont settlement, so lawyers' fees may be reasonable after all
- Article from:
- Charleston Daily Mail
- Article date:
- March 17, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2005 Charleston Daily Mail. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
Is it reasonable for the law firms who represented Wood County
residents in a class-action lawsuit against DuPont to collect an
average of $922 an hour for their work?
As reported earlier this month, a settlement of the C8 case
against DuPont will result in the lawyers receiving at least $22.6
million. Deduct about $2.3 million for expenses and the lawyers will
receive about $20 million for 21,678.89 hours they say they spent on
the case as of Jan. 31.That works out to $922 an hour.
There are two generally accepted ways to arrive at attorneys' fees
in class-action settlements:
* The court determines the fee by multiplying a reasonable number
of hours spent on the case by a reasonable hourly ...