In a remarkable order, full of a long recounting of the remarkable results in the Surfside Tower collapse case in which at the outset Judge Hanzman noted that the building was insured for 48 million and the property was worth about 100 million - and the total recovery ended up being 1.2 billion- and it was obtained within 18 months- Judge Hanzman REJECTED a fee request of 100 million comprising something called Lodestar that we are entirely unfamiliar with, but did approve legal fees of 65 million dollars.
The order starts out with voluminous praise for the attorneys who took on the case being warned by the tough-talking judge that it was NOT going to be "business as usual" and they had better "BUCKLE UP" for the hard ride ahead. In Rumpole's world, effusive praise in an order almost always precedes the inevitable "but for the reasons stated herein the motion is denied."
And that is what occurred. Sort off. The attorneys got more than they agreed to when they "buckled up", but less than what they asked for- even with the support of some expert who opined "show them the money!" Or something like that.
It's a good order. A well-reasoned order. The fees represent 6.5% of the money recovered. More than a billion dollars went to the victims and their survivors.
Well Done Judge Hanzman. Well Done indeed.
Champlain Towers South - Order on Class Counsel's Motion for Attorney's Fees by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd
Don’t forget his sidekick Co-Judge and side kick “Coco” - Judge Jon Colby. Dynamic duo got it done in the saddest trial of the decade. Good job Hanzy.
ReplyDeleteHanzy and Coco. Gods in the legal community. Ed Cowart look out.
ReplyDeleteThe GOAT.
ReplyDeleteHanzy rocked this from start to finish. Name another judge in Miami who could have done this al, beginning to end, in 18 months and got the money to the families?
ReplyDeleteI can't think of one.
Huck would've done it in 45 days.
ReplyDeleteIt was 14 months from the collapse. Not 18 months.
ReplyDeleteAnd don’t forget Judges Hanzman and Colby presided over 100 of the wrongful death trials in just 6 weeks! No other judges have ever done that - or ever will. These 2 epic jurists gave out over a $1 billion in verdicts to these suffering families. I think they met and heard from all victims. I’m sure they will never be the same after what they saw and heard.
They need to be honored as heroes.
Had the attorney been on contingency fee, they would have gotten $300 million, so, I think that $100 million was a very reasonable fee on the low end.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Wetherington
ReplyDeleteGreat work by a judge who is quickly becoming a Miami legend.
ReplyDeleteName a sadder case and the massive number of trials bigger than this in Florida legal history? Tobacco can’t compare.
ReplyDeletede la O
ReplyDeleteJudge Hanzman got a standing ovation from the attorneys and families. The GOAT. Not debatable.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Judge Hanzman and Judge Jon Colby are best friends for many years. They won many multimillion dollar class actions as lawyers. Admirable that they would do public service when they could be trial lawyers and be making $300 million attorney fees!
ReplyDeleteThere were no trials. The $1.1B were settlements.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows in the 1990s Hanzy and Coco rocked the Ford rollover litigation. When he was once asked how much he said, Hanzy said "you can't count that high". Coco bought a string of Chicken Delicious franchises in Sheboygan Wisconsin and then rolled over the profits of those into several In and Out Burger places in San Jose and San Clemente.
ReplyDelete@ 09/01 4:47p: The $1.1b was a global settlement; however, Hanzman and Colby had to conduct mini-trials for all of the claimants to allocate the settlement funds among all of the wrongful-death plaintiffs. This required them to hear evidence from the families of the 98 decedents and weigh their relative losses, and the judges did so in a very short period of time. I can't imagine how difficult this was.
ReplyDeleteWait, so he made a bunch as a plaintiffs lawyer from injury and death cases on contingency, but when he became a judge, he prevented a bunch of plaintiffs lawyers from earning a fair contingency fee in an injury and deaths case? Wow…great work. You going to send that extra 2/3 that you kept back to all your former clients? I would have moved to recuse him the second he floated that bs.
ReplyDeleteThose PI “attorneys” you’re referring to just signed up clients (cue the cha ching $ sound) and didn’t do ANY of the actual work. The attorneys who did All of the work on both sides (economic and wrongful death) can be counted on one hand and deserve to be paid.
DeleteAnd now, Hanzman can continue reminding everyone that he’s the smartest guy in the room.
El Aponte could have done better, much quicker as well.
ReplyDeleteYes 10 44. I am sure that while Judge Hanzman is reading the first page article in todays NYT praising the job he did here, he is feeling terrible about awarding lawyers who agreed to work pro bono over 70m for 10 months work. Maybe you should start a Go Fund me page for them.
ReplyDeleteI thought the multiplier was too high, as reported by the press, but on scanning briefly over Judge Hanzman's order, I am persuaded. Especially because this was a crapshoot for lawyers who signed up at the outset, when the amount available to pay anyone was considered likely to be woefully inadequate, across the board. (I do know what lodestar and multipliers are.)
ReplyDeleteStewart Grossman's candor, set forth in a footnote, is especially gratifying in its candor. Mediator Bruce Greer insisted, I understand, that he would not accept a fee, saying he signed up for pro bono, and would not go back on that promise.
10.44's comment comes directly from ignorance, if not outright stupidity. Certainly shows little understanding of the case, the victims, the possible sources of funds, or the sheer vastness of the case. Pathetic.