US judge rebuffs $85 million fee request by lawyers in Google Play antitrust litigation

Alphabet

16/10/2026 15:38

Judge says lawyers' billing records lack detail
Consumer lawyers said they invested nearly 100,000 hours in the litigation
Requested fee equals 13.5% of $630 million settlement fund
By Mike Scarcella
WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - A federal judge in California has rejected for now a request by lawyers for consumers who sued Alphabet's GOOGL.O Google over its Play Store practices to collect $85 million in legal fees from a $630 million settlement, saying the attorneys failed to provide sufficient records to justify the award.
US District Judge James Donato in San Francisco in a ruling on Thursday said the lawyers failed to submit adequately detailed billing records, describing the material as "utterly lacking in information demonstrating what work was done and for what purpose" in the litigation.
Donato also questioned whether the consumer lawyers alone were responsible for obtaining the settlement, noting that attorneys representing all 50 states and other government entities participated in the litigation that led to the deal.
"The lawyers asking for fees here were far from the only attorneys who worked to obtain the $630 million common fund settlement," Donato said. “Every state and equivalent entity in the Union had attorneys who participated in the litigation leading to the settlement.”
The judge gave the plaintiffs another chance to persuade him to award them fees. 
The lead consumer attorneys, Karma Giulianelli of Bartlit Beck and Hae Sung Nam of Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Google also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Google was accused of overcharging Play Store customers through restrictions on app distribution on Android devices and fees for in-app transactions. 
The company agreed in 2023 to pay $630 million into a consumer settlement fund and $70 million into a separate fund managed by states. Google denied wrongdoing.
The requested award amounted to 13.5% of the $630 million fund established to compensate consumers.
Lead consumer attorneys Giulianelli and Nam in a court filing in December said the plaintiffs' team devoted nearly 100,000 hours to the litigation and argued that their "enormous" efforts helped secure the settlement, making the requested compensation reasonable.
The lead states that negotiated the settlement — California, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Utah — did not back any specific fee amount for the consumers' lawyers. But the states also did not object to the consumer lawyers' request.
The consumer case was once a class action, but Donato later decertified it after he ruled that the plaintiffs could not rely on key testimony from an economist.
The case is In re Google Play Store Antitrust Litigation, US District Court, Northern District of California, No. 3:21-cv-05227-JD.
For consumer plaintiffs: Karma Giulianelli of Bartlit Beck, and Hae Sung Nam of Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer
For Google: Glenn Pomerantz of Munger, Tolles & Olson; Jonathan Kravis of Liu Shur Kravis; and Brian Rocca of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
     
Read more:
Judge calls $3,000 hourly rate 'patently unreasonable' as lawyer billing soars
Plaintiffs’ lawyers in AT&T class actions win $59 million legal fee award
Rival lawyers clash over fees after $2.8 billion Blue Cross settlement
Judge in Google privacy class action awards lawyers $147 million in legal fees
Law firm Motley Rice's fee for Meta case in New Mexico could top $67 million
     

(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; editing by Nate Raymond)