Lobatz

OVERVIEW

The district court approved a class action settlement in a suit brought by the class plaintiffs against U.S. West Cellular of California, Inc. and AirToueh Cellular. In two separate fee awards, the court awarded class counsel attorney fees of $923,390.97 and $1,000,000, in addition to costs. Pamela Havird, a member of the class, appeals the district court’s approval of the settlement and the final award of fees and costs.

Because Havird’s notice of appeal from the judgment approving the settlement was untimely, and the “unique circumstances” doctrine does not apply to save the appeal, see Thompson v. INS, 375 U.S. 384 , 84 S.Ct. 397 , 11 L.Ed.2d 404 (1964), we lack jurisdiction to consider Havird’s appeal from the judgment approving the settlement. However, Havird’s notice of appeal from the final $1,000,000 attorney fee and cost award was timely, and she has standing to prosecute that appeal even though the attorney fees and costs were payable by the defendants independent of the class settlement. We hold the district court did not err in denying Havird’s requested discovery, nor in the method it employed to review class counsel’s request for attorney fees and costs,…