The 7th Circuit recently vacated a 25% attorneys’ fee award in In re Stericycle Securities Litigation, No. 20-2055, 2022 WL 1564997, at *1–14 (7th Cir. May 18, 2022). The Court’s reasoning focused on the previous litigation against the defendant.
Years before this litigation, a former Stericycle employee brought a qui tam action under the Federal False Claims Act with similar claims. Various settlements with governments and private customers followed. All cases settled.
Two Florida pension funds filed this securities class action. The district court appointed two class representatives—the Public Employee’s Retirement System of Mississippi (“Mississippi Fund”) and the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. The district court approve the Mississippi Fund’s motion to appoint Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman LLP (“Bernstein”) as class counsel.
With motions to dismiss pending, the parties settled for $45 million. An Objector claimed that the fee award was unreasonably high given the low risk of litigation and the early stage at which the case settled. And it moved the court to permit discovery into potential “pay-to-play” arrangements between the Mississippi fund and Bernstein, its chosen counsel. The district court approved the $45 million settlement based on the contingent nature of the litigation and the positive outcome for the class, and denied discovery.
The 7th Circuit held that the district court’s fee analysis was incomplete for three reasons: the court did not...
Fenland residents have been warned not to risk incorrectly claiming Council Tax Support following two recent prosecutions for false claims. Support and benefits are there to help vulnerable and low...