Last September, Apple and Amazon were cleared in an iPhone and iPad price-fixing lawsuit. Now, they’re seeking reimbursement for their attorneys’ fees. Here are the details.
Law firm promises to ‘vigorously’ contest the demand
In 2022, Apple and Amazon were sued over alleged anticompetitive practices that looked to reduce the number of iPhone and iPad resellers on Amazon’s marketplace.
The case, a putative class action filed by law firm Hagens Berman on behalf of user Steven Floyd, was dismissed last September by U.S. District Judge Kymberly Evanson.
She found that when Floyd decided to withdraw from the case, his lawyers told the court he had “become difficult to reach,” while in reality they were seeking to add new plaintiffs to take his place.
Now, as reported by Reuters, Apple and Amazon have filed a request asking Judge Evanson to order Hagens Berman to reimburse them for “attorneys’ fees incurred because of counsel’s misrepresentations.”
From the filing:
“Defendants seek attorneys’ fees they incurred because of Hagens Berman’s ‘well-documented misrepresentations’ in this case. Order 1, Dkt. 250. Those misrepresentations wasted the Court’s resources and imposed substantial expenses on defendants that would not have been necessary but for counsel’s misconduct. As the Supreme Court has repeatedly held, courts may award fees when lawyers act in bad faith—and Hagens Berman’s misrepresentations fit the bill. Defendants are thus entitled to the fees they incurred because of that misconduct, in addition to the costs that 28 U.S.C. §1920 grants them as prevailing parties.”
Apple is asking for $540,000, while Amazon is requesting $1.4 million. In a statement to Reuters, Hagens Berman’s Steve Berman said that “the companies are not entitled to fees and that the plaintiffs will ‘vigorously’ contest their demand.”
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