Judge Signals Support for $146M Attorney Fee Request in Google Privacy Case

San Francisco Judge Richard Seeborg expressed support for an attorney fee request of $146 million in a Google privacy class action case. The motion was filed by plaintiffs' counsel, who also requested $12 million in litigation costs. The case involved over 100 million users and resulted in a jury verdict of over $425 million in compensatory damages against Google.

Seeborg declined to rule on the motion immediately but stated that the request was 'within the realm' of what the plaintiffs' counsel had requested, which is one-third of the common fund. The common fund now exceeds $440 million due to interest. Seeborg acknowledged the concerns raised by some class members regarding the high fee request and asked plaintiffs' attorney David Boies to address them.

Boies explained that the small amount of recovery per class member was a common issue in large class actions, but emphasized the importance of securing injunctive relief for the class. Following the jury's verdict, Google amended its privacy disclosures to more accurately reflect its data collection practices. The plaintiffs are also seeking $50,000 awards for the two class representatives who testified at trial and $35,000 for the representative who didn't testify due to medical reasons.