Tillery
Nine years of litigation against California technology company CyberSource over stock options resulted in net loss for class action lawyer Stephen Tillery of St. Louis.
He petitioned for a $166,750 fee from a $575,000 settlement on July 22, writing that it was "substantially less than class counsel's fees and expenses incurred since the start of this case."
Tillery client Brian Wilgus sued CyberSource in 2002, on behalf of dozens of employees who joined CyberSource when it bought tech company Paylinx.
Wilgus claimed CyberSource's actions caused the value of stock options to drop from $10.75 a share to $1.85.
CyberSource agreed to litigate the suit as a class action.
Circuit Judge Daniel Stack granted summary judgment to CyberSource in 2008, ruling it breached no contract, but Fifth District appellate judges reversed him in 2009.
This March, Tillery and CyberSource settled claims of 69 persons.
Circuit Judge William Mudge granted preliminary approval in April.
He'll consider final approval and Tillery's fee on Aug. 4.
Tillery recently settled two other cases from the peak of the county's class action frenzy.
In June, he dismissed an eight year old claim that Van Kampen Securities cheated mutual fund shareholders by taking advantage of global market timing.
On July 15, he dismissed a nine year old suit against Gateway Inc., over the speed of Pentium processors it made.
This February, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Gateway couldn't require arbitration.