United States Fourth Circuit

District court's reduction of an award of attorneys' fees from $6 million to $600,000, arising from an $18 million settlement with the insurer of the drunk driver responsible for their client's permanent and severe disabilities, is vacated and remanded as, although a district court does possess discretion in approving fee awards, particularly when its power to protect minors or the disabled is involved, the district court abused that discretion by improperly applying the standards established for determining whether an attorney's fee is reasonable pursuant to the applicable Barber/Allen factors.

Appellate Information

• Argued 03/23/2010
• Decided 05/18/2010
• Published 05/18/2010

Judges

• Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, WILKINSON, Circuit Judge, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• ARGUED:James P. Cooney, III, Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice, PLLC, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellants; John Keating Wiles, Cheshire, Parker, Schneider, Bryan & Vitale, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Jerry Pellegrin, Guardian Ad Litem for Mark Pellegrin. Thomas Shipley Jones, Jones Day, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for Court-Assigned Amicus Counsel. ON BRIEF:Joseph B. Cheshire, Cheshire, Parker, Schneider, Bryan & Vitale, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Jerry Pellegrin, Guardian Ad Litem for Mark Pellegrin. Bruce C. Dean, Chairman, Amicus Curiae Committee, Bruce C. Dean, LLC, Metairie, Louisiana, for Louisiana Association for Justice, Amicus Supporting Appellants. Les Weisbrod, President, American Association For Justice, Washington, D.C., Arthur A. Bryant, Executive Director, Public Justice, Washington, D.C., Jeffrey R. White, Center for Constitutional Litigation, P.C., Washington, D.C., for American Association for Justice and Public Justice, Amici Supporting Appellants. Charles H. Moellenberg, Stephanie D. Taylor, Jones Day, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for Court-Assigned Amicus Counsel.