As reported by the New York Times, a federal judge has overturned four settlements from 9/11 victims because of an unfair distribution to one law firm in Maryland, Azrael, Gann & Franz.
District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein explained in his ruling that the Franz firm’s request for a 25 percent contingency fee of $28.5 million it had recovered “would reflect a very large windfall,” and that its “entire strategy seems to have been to coast on the work of others.”
As noted by the Times:
Judge Hellerstein noted that the firm claimed it had done “outstanding work” to earn the fee, and had produced higher settlements. The firm also argued that because the settlement proceedings were confidential, “no one will know about a higher fee award,” the judge wrote.
Such, obviously, was not the case, as everyone now knows about the settlements.
Worth noting, the Judge made an exception for Motley Rice, another firm that received 20 percent in three of its cases, because it had done more work, and had prepared those cases for trial. No case went to trial.
