Quinn Emanuel s $185 Million Fee Award Poised for More Scrutiny
The lower court granted Quinn Emanuel the full amount it requested, which is 5% of the settlement. The $185 million legal fee represents a multiplier of 18 times the firm s average hourly rates (around $1,000) and the 10,000 hours it said it spent on the matter which would amount to more than $18,000 an hour.
Quinn Emanuel had told its clients it would request up to 5%” of the award, and argued it was owed that full amount considering it recovered 100% of the insurers claims against one of the toughest adversaries, the US government.
All of the evidence of record suggests that the typical multiplier is in the one-to-two range, with a presumptive cap at four, Moore said Monday during oral argument.
The $185 million in legal fees would represent about 10% of Quinn Emanuel s gross revenue in 2021.
The Supreme Court has been talking about fee applications since the 1880s. Not a single court of appeals decision in the history of the United States has ever awarded a multiple this high. Ever, Moe Keshavarzi, a partner at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, told the court Monday, defending the health insurers.
This is why lawyers work so hard.