“It’s obvious from a ruling Monday by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco that the judge does not think owners of Volkswagen ‘clean diesel’ cars needed individual counsel. The judge denied motions by 244 plaintiffs’ lawyers who wanted VW to pay them for the time they spent drafting filings for individual car owners, suggesting edits to classwide filings and advising their clients about developments in the case, including advice about whether to participate in the $10 billion class action settlement.” (Lawyers for the class itself, on the other hand, led by San Francisco’s Lieff Cabraser, are on track to get $175 million in fees and costs.) “So if VW doesn’t have to pay these 244 non-class lawyers for their time, will the 3,642 VW owners who signed individual contingency fee agreements with them be on the hook?” While Judge Breyer has instructed VW not to recognize liens for the individual attorney fees, they could still proceed against their clients for collection under the terms of the individual contingency fee contracts. [Alison Frankel, Reuters]

Filed under: attorneys' fees, class action settlements, Volkswagen