Plaintiffs’ lawyers involved in a data privacy settlement with Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) have requested over $181 million in legal fees from a federal judge in San Francisco. The settlement, totalling $725 million, resolves claims related to the sharing of user information with third parties.
The lawyers argued that the requested fees, representing 25% of the settlement fund, are within the range awarded in similar-sized cases. They highlighted the significance of the settlement, noting it as the largest data-privacy recovery in history and the largest private settlement reached by Facebook. The lawyers stated that extensive work over nearly five years of litigation, amounting to more than 149,000 hours, contributed to this result. Meta, its outside lawyer from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and the plaintiffs’ lawyers did not provide immediate comments on the fee request. Deducting previous sanctions, the net fees paid from the settlement fund would be approximately $180.4 million. The settlement, which received preliminary approval in March, does not require Meta to admit wrongdoing, and a final approval hearing is scheduled for September 7th.
