EAST ST. LOUIS – Nine years after the mother in law of late lawyer Randy Gori started a class action over coffee flavor and 16 months after settlement, lawyers fight over their fees.
On Sept. 9, the Gori firm and five others asked Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel to allocate $8.32 million she awarded in April.
The group didn’t include lead counsel Patrick Cooper of Birmingham, Alabama.
An affidavit he signed with figures for all firms indicated that his firm deserved about half the total, but no one applied for a specific amount.
Linda Suchanek, mother of Beth Gori, sued Tree House Foods in 2011.
She claimed that when Tree House sold single cup coffee cartridges, it should have disclosed that it froze the coffee.
The parties announced a $25 million settlement in May 2019, as Rosenstengel prepared for trial, but they argued over terms until October.
Cooper filed his affidavit of lodestar calculations in February.
Lodestar, a nickname of the North Star, means an ideal principle. In law it represents a formula for establishing reasonable hours and fees.
Cooper’s lodestars added up to $6,302,536.25, about $2 million less than the award, so he proposed to multiply all amounts by 1.32.
He claimed 3,230 hours of his own at $875 an hour. With a multiplier, that would equal about $3.7 million.
Peter Burke of Birmingham claimed 1,920 hours at $675 an hour. With a multiplier, that would equal about $1.7 million.
Allen Schreiber of Birmingham claimed 1,844 hours at $550. With a multiplier, that would equal about $1.3 million.
Those three lawyers performed about three fourths of the work.
Michael Maizes of New York City claimed 616 hours at $550. With a multiplier, that would equal about $450,000.
Kem Marks of Birmingham claimed 595 hours at $550. With a multiplier, that would equal about $430,000.
Gori’s firm contributed 211 hours to the case, two percent of the total.
Partner Todd Mathews reported 140 hours at $750, for $108,750. With a multiplier, that would equal about $144,000.
Associate Megan Arvola reported 57 hours at $500, for $28,500. With a multiplier, that would equal about $38,000.
Associate Chelsea Fischer reported 14 hours at $300, for $4,200. With a multiplier, that would equal about $5,500.
Rosenstengel approved the settlement in April, awarding the fees and almost $500,000 in expenses.
A dispute broke out but didn’t turn public until Burke moved for allocation.
He acted on behalf of Schreiber, the Gori firm, and four other lawyers.
“Any award of fees to counsel based upon a lodestar was never part of the resolution of this action in any way, shape, or form,” he wrote.
He referred to a conference he and Cooper held with Rosenstengel in June.
The event does not appear on the case docket.
Burke wrote that Cooper asserted a fiduciary duty to the class to make a proper allocation among all counsel.
“While Mr. Cooper is wrong on the fiduciary aspect comment, as the class has no interest in how the fee is divided, Mr. Cooper’s assertion at that time was a tacit admission that the court never made any findings regarding how the fee was to be divided or allocated,” he wrote.
He wrote that he never had a chance to contest lodestar claims.
He moved for appointment of a special master to analyze detailed billing records.
He recommended Randi Ellis of Louisiana, who has acted as special master in the Southern Illinois district and elsewhere.
Maizes and David Rosenberg-Wohl of San Francisco did not join the motion.