United States Ninth Circuit

Parties to a class action may not include in a settlement agreement an amount of attorneys' fees measured as a percentage of an actual or putative common fund created for the benefit of the class, rather the class's lawyers must petition the court for an award of fees separate from and subsequent to settlement. An employment discrimination suit met class certification requirements under FRCP 23(a).

Appellate Information

• Argued 05/09/2001
• Decided 11/26/2002
• Published 11/26/2002

Judges

• Before:  LAY,TROTT and BERZON, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Alan B. Epstein,Spector Gadon & Rosen, P.C., Philadelphia, PA, for the Plaintiffs-Objectors-Appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Bruce A. Harrell and Oscar E. Desper III, Harrell, Desper, Connell & Roesch, Seattle, Washington, and Charles K. Wiggins, Bainbridge, WA, for the Plaintiffs-Appellees., C. Geoffrey Weirich and Maureen E. O'Neill, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, Atlanta, GA, for the Defendants-Appellees.