Dist. Ct. erred in awarding class counsel under common-fund doctrine $1.4 million in fees stemming from $4.2 million judgment that class members received in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) action arising out of defendant’s sending of unsolicited faxes to class members, where class members were entitled to statutory maximum remedy of $500 per fax, and where class counsel received $167 out of each $500 award. Ct. of Appeals had previously found that instant action stemmed from discrete injuries, which did not create common fund, and thus payment of legal fees to class counsel based on total value of judgment was inappropriate. As such, counsel should only get paid for faxes sent to class members who actually collect their awards, and Dist. Ct. did not err in directing that any unclaimed awards go back to defendant, since creation of fund to pay judgment was only security device that must be returned to defendant once all claims have been paid.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Class Action