In The News . . . . Attorney Fired In Case Against GM Only Gets $3,052.50 In Attorney’s Fees And Zero Expenses Despite Seeking $17,270 In Fees And $4,646.97 In Expenses

Federal District Judge Said Expenses Already Reimbursed And Attorney Does Not Get Fees For Work After He Was Fired.

            As reported by Debra Cassens Weiss in the April 15, 2021 on-line ABA Journal, a federal district judge in In re General Motors LLC Ignition Switch Litig., Case No. 17-CV-9353 (JMF) (Apr. 13, 2021 order) only awarded a plaintiff’s former attorney $3,052.50 in attorney’s fees and zero expenses despite a fee request for $17,270 in fees and $4,646.97 in expenses.  District Judge Jesse M. Furman concluded no expenses should be awarded because the plaintiff’s attorney had already been reimbursed for them.  With respect to fees, this one was confounding given that many of them were incurred after the attorney was fired and the new attorney never alerted the court that the fee request related to post-firing work.  The result was to pare the request down significantly, meaning plaintiff’s former attorney should be glad he got anything at all (and did not get anything for post-firing work, filing a suit after he was fired)!