End User Consumer Plaintiff Class v. Fieldale Farms Corp.

In class action alleging that defendant engaged in price fixing in broiler chicken market, Dist. Ct. erred in awarding class counsel attorney’s fees totaling $57.4 million, following plaintiff-class’s settlement of action for $181 million, where award represented one third of settlement amount, excluding expenses and incentive awards. While Dist. Ct.’s assessment of attorney’s fees is normally accorded deference, remand was required for new consideration of fee award, where: (1) Dist. Ct. was required when calculating attorney’s fee awards to calculate fees in accordance with hypothetical ex ante bargain; and (2) when calculating instant fee award, Dist. Ct. improperly failed to consider bids made by class counsel in auction of other claims, as well as fee awards received by class counsel obtained in cases originating outside of Seventh Circuit Ct. of Appeals. Ct. of Appeals also directed Dist. Ct to reconsider defendant’s request to obtain discovery from plaintiff’s experts who rendered opinion of plaintiff’s fee request.