Rodriguez Ex Rel. Frailich v. West Publishing Corp.

MEMORANDUM

Appellants, counsel for a group of objectors to a nationwide class action settlement, appeal from the district court’s award of attorneys’ fees. They contend that the district court abused its discretion and disobeyed our mandate in Rodriguez v. Disner, 688 F.3d 645 (9th Cir.2012) when it awarded fees using the lodestar method. Instead, they argue, our prior decision bound the district court to award a percentage of the benefit conferred upon the class by Appellants’ action. Alternatively, they contend that the district court erred in applying the lodestar method, both by' excluding certain claimed time, reducing the lodestar amount to $315,516.87, and by applying a 0.75 multiplier (i.e., a twenty-five percent reduction) to the adjusted lodestar amount, further reducing the ultimate fee award to $236,637. We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in choosing the lodestar method, or in its reduction of Appellants’ lodestar hours. But we agree with Appellants that the district court erred by further applying the 0.75 multiplier to the adjusted lodestar amount.' We reverse the district court’s award and remand with instructions to award attorneys’…