Like all of the other settlements so far, plaintiffs’ attorneys in the ongoing real estate agent commission lawsuits have asked a court for one-third of the settlement amounts agreed to by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and HomeServices of America.
In a filing in the Sitzer/Burnett suit on Friday, the class counsel notified the court that it wants one-third of the $679.275 million settlement amount from the two parties, which equals roughly $226.425 million.
Additionally, the attorneys are also seeking reimbursement for out-of-pocket costs and expenses, which they claim total more than $16 million. The counsel notes that they spent this money “without any guarantee for success.” The motion claims that the most significant expense to date was the class notices that were mailed in the Moehrl suit prior to the settlements reached by NAR and HomeServices.
In the filings, the law firms of Ketchmark and McCreight, Williams Dirks Cameron, Cohen Millstein Sellers & Toll, Boulware Law, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and Susman Godfrey claim they spent 107,500 hours on the cases since the original commission lawsuits were filed in 2019. These hours spent prosecuting the litigation required more than $92 million in compensation through Aug. 31, 2024, the attorneys claimed.
According to the filing, the attorneys faced “substantial risk” in representing the settlement class.
“This was among the riskiest litigation Class Counsel have ever prosecuted, due to the possibility of no recovery, the scale of the litigation, the deeply embedded nature of the practices and issue, and the investment of time and money required to pursue the litigation and reach settlements or other judgment against well-resourced defendants,” the filing states.
The attorneys note that the antitrust claims at the center of the suit were “challenging to prosecute.” They claim the defense left no stone unturned, and the counsel highlighted the numerous motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment filed by the defendants.
“There was no roadmap of previous cases or settlements, and no assistance from governmental entities or regulators through parallel litigation,” the motion states. “Despite the long odds they faced, Class Counsel achieved remarkable success.”
In previous filings, the plaintiffs indicated they have agreed to the one-third share.
According to filings, partners at Dirks Cameron earn an hourly rate of $1,250, paralegals earn $300 per hour and associates — one of whom spent more than 2,000 hours on the cases — earn $600 per hour.
Michael Ketchmark, the lead plaintiffs’ attorney in the Sitzer/Burnett and Gibson suits, wrote in filings that he spent nearly 7,000 hours on the cases. At his hourly rate of $1,450, he is looking to recoup $10.1 million for his work.
The attorney with highest hourly rate of those involved in the suit is Marc Seltzer of Susman Godfrey, who charges $2,200 per hour.
The filing noted that the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has previously ruled that attorneys’ fees of 25% to 36% of the total settlement amount are appropriate for class-action suits.
“The percentage of the fund approach aligns Class Counsel’s interests with those of the class because the greater the recovery Class Counsel obtains, the greater the fee to which Class Counsel is entitled. As courts have recognized, it incentivizes counsel to continue pursuing additional claims beneficial to the class even where, as here, counsel have already obtained substantial recoveries for the class,” the filing states.
The final approval date for the NAR and HomeServices settlements is slated for Nov. 26, 2024.
