Record $700M in Attorney Fees Sought in Enron Litigation
San Diego securities class-action firm Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins is seeking a record $700 million in fees for plaintiffs lawyers in litigation against professionals accused of aiding Enron accounting fraud.
A $700 million attorney fee would be the largest ever in a securities class action, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.).
So far plaintiffs firms have recovered $7.2 billion for shareholders in Enron-related settlements, a record recovery for corporate fraud, Coughlin Stoia spokesman Dan Newman told the newspaper. “The bottom line is that the defrauded shareholders will recover more than 90 percent of the settlement” after fees are paid, he said.
Coughlin Stoia was founded by lawyer William Lerach, who recently pleaded guilty to paying kickbacks to lead plaintiffs in other litigation. His plea deal will allow him to keep million of dollars in his share of the settlement, ABAJournal.com noted in a prior post.
