Steiner
Steiner v. American Broadcasting Co.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
Class members Universal Music Group and other major affiliated record labels and music publishing companies (“Majors”) appeal the district court’s order awarding attorneys’ fees to class counsel. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.
We review a district court’s award of attorneys’ fees for an abuse of discretion. Fischel v. Equitable Life Assurance Soc’y, 307 F.3d 997 , 1005 (9th Cir.2002). We review the court’s underlying factual findings for clear error and review de novo any legal analysis relevant to the fee award. Id. Although 25 percent is the benchmark fee award in common fund cases, the “[sjelection of the benchmark or any other rate must be supported by findings that take into account all of the circumstances of the case.” Vizcaino v. Mi *782 crosoft Corp., 290 F.3d 1043 , 1047-48 (9th Cir.2002).
The Majors contend that the district court abused its discretion because it committed a number of legal and factual errors in awarding attorneys’ fees to class counsel. The Majors argue that the district court applied incorrect legal standards by finding relevant that class counsel achieved only “excellent results” and only “faced a…
Dissenting Opinion
Kleinfeld, J.
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent.
We review the attorneys’ fees awarded to class counsel for abuse of discretion.
Defendants used copyrighted music in television soap operas without permission. After successfully suing on behalf of an individual, class counsel brought a class action on behalf of all the other copyright holders. There was no serious question about liability, and damages were subject to a statutory minimum per use. 2 The practical risk, as described by the district *784 court, was not losing, but rather “protracted litigation against very good litigators.”
The risk did not materialize. With no depositions, no motions to dismiss or for summary judgment, no opposition to class certification, and no trial, class counsel got defendants’ agreement to a $25.4 million settlement. That is not to say that counsel did not have to do a great deal of very sophisticated, specialized, and difficult legal work to get the settlement. They did. At rates for attorneys ranging from $275 to $600 an hour, and for non-lawyers from $130 to $175 an hour, at that point their time was worth about $554,000.