Lockheed Minority Solidarity Coalition v. Lockheed Missiles & Space Co.

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION AND ORDER

This Memorandum of Opinion and Order is addressed to the question of the appropriate amount of attorneys’ fees to be awarded to Sanford Ress and Michael Milligan (“claimants”), the private attorneys representing a number of classes of plaintiffs in an employment discrimination suit brought under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (“Title VII”) against Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc. (“Lockheed”). Following extensive hearings concerning the fairness of the proposal, a settlement agreement disposing of the pending litigation was approved by the Court on November 20, 1975. The Order awarding attorneys’ fees to claimants was signed on December 30, 1975. This Memorandum of Opinion and Order sets out the reasons for that award.

Although originally a part of the negotiated settlement, the question of the attorneys’ fees of the two attorneys representing the plaintiffs is now a disputed matter. As part of the tentative settlement package, Lockheed had agreed to pay attorneys’ fees in the amount of $45,000 to claimants. When Lockheed learned that claimants would receive a contingent fee amounting to $30,000 from the recovery provided for the named…