Google Data Privacy Lawsuit: Lawyers Get Millions, Users Get Pennies

Attorney Fees and Court Approval

U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg approved the $147 million fee request for lawyers representing the consumer class, according to federal court records. The legal teams leading the litigation included attorneys from Boies Schiller Flexner, Susman Godfrey, and Morgan & Morgan. The awarded sum accounts for nearly 35 percent of the total $425 million settlement fund secured from Google.

The approved fees compensate the legal teams for 49,670 hours of work spanning five years of litigation, translating to an average hourly compensation of approximately 2 960 $US. Out of the 98 million class members, only 269 individuals formally opposed the attorneys’ fee request.

Judge’s Rationale and Class-Action Mechanics

In his ruling, Judge Seeborg defended the magnitude of the payout by citing the substantial risk undertaken by the legal teams who worked under tight constraints. According to the court order, the judge noted that lawyers are heavily rewarded for achieving a successful outcome despite individual class members receiving minimal payouts.

“The lawyers are generously rewarded for their success, even if each of the 98 million members of the class will part with less than $5,” Judge Seeborg wrote in the decision, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. “This is the nature of actions collectives. In our system, there is simply no other way to ensure that a defendant who commits a small tortious liability against a large number of people is held accountable.”

Google’s Response

Google has denied any wrongdoing throughout the course of the litigation. According to court filings and company statements reported by the Wall Street Journal, Google plans to appeal the court’s judgment.