Fees Flushed

In Fessler v. Porcelana Corona de Mexico, the Fifth Circuit flushed an attorneys-fee award in a class-action case about allegedly defective toilets, concluding that the district court had not plunged deeply enough into the factor of “degree of success obtained” — “[T]he [district] court stated simply that ‘the work done did not prove fruitless—it resulted in two settled classes receiving a host of monetary and non-monetary benefits they would not have received but for the Class Counsel’s diligent work.’ In other words, not receiving every bit of relief requested is no reason to reduce the lodestar. But this misconstrues Fifth Circuit precedent. The court was required to consider what was sought— compensatory, punitive, and treble damages for five tank models manufactured across nine years. Yet, the Class members only received a maximum of $4000 in damages for two tank models manufactured in one year.” No. 20-40357 (Jan. 10, 2022) (footnote omitted).