SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Class action lawyers who gained a $9.5 million settlement with Molson Coors are asking for $2.5 million in fees - a figure that represents nearly $3,000 per hour.
Gutride Safier, Sheehan & Associates and The Wright Law Office filed their motion for fees on April 14 in California federal court. They also seek nearly $70,000 in costs and $5,000 each for five of their plaintiffs and $2,500 each for four others.
The lawsuit said vitamin C claims on Vizzy hard seltzers misled drinkers into thinking they were healthier than they are. The settlement includes an injunction that will take the vitamin C claims off the packaging. Class members who kept their receipts or other proofs of purchase will get $5 per 24 pack, $3 per 12 pack and $.75 for single cans.
A fee award 26% of the total settlement is in line with appropriate amounts in the Ninth Circuit, the lawyers say.
Gutride Safier said its staff spent 738.7 hours on the case, including 331.8 by Hayley Reynolds. Sheehan's affidavit says he worked 84.14 and Wright's says he worked 24. It all adds up to 846.84 hours.
The fee award divided by that amount of hours would pay attorneys at a rate of $2,952.15 per hour. The firms were working on a contingency fee, however, so the court could find their percentage of the total settlement appropriate.
"Since Plaintiffs' Counsel's work is primarily focused on contingent-fee class action cases, it does not get paid in every case," the motion says.
"Sometimes, it gets nothing or is awarded fees equal to only a small percentage of the amount it had worked. Here, Plaintiffs' Counsel expended nearly 850 hours litigating this case over the past two years on a contingent basis, with no guarantee of compensation. Thus, this factor supports Plaintiffs' fee request."
Judge William Orrick has already given preliminary approval to the agreement. The settlement is on behalf of a nationwide class and would resolve claims under California, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New York, Illinois, Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas and Florida laws.
Without a receipt, class members can claim a maximum of $15 per household. For incentive awards to the named plaintiffs, the settlement would pay a total of $35,000.
Attorneys for Molson Coors had argued reasonable customers would not think drinking a hard seltzer is healthy or the same as eating a piece of fruit.
“This argument ignores the FDA’s own guidance that fortification of alcoholic beverages could be false and misleading,” Orrick wrote when denying the company's motion to dismiss.
“It also ignores the disputes of fact about how reasonable consumers would interpret the phrase ‘with Antioxidant Vitamin C from acerola superfruit.’ As plaintiffs point out, that statement is prominent on all of the Vizzy packaging and featured prominently in marketing materials to distinguish Vizzy from its competitors.”
The motion for fees said Gutride Safier and Sheehan "turned away other work" during the pendency of their cases, which increased the risk in pursuing the Vizzy suit.
The prolific Sheehan filed more than 200 lawsuits in federal court from May 22, 2021, when his first Vizzy complaint was filed, and Oct. 14, 2022 - the date of the notice of the Vizzy settlement.