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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS 

EASTERN DIVISION 

In re Peregrine Financial Group 

Customer Litigation 

Case No. 12-cv-5546 

Judge Sara L. Ellis 

Magistrate Judge Daniel G. Martin 

PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR AN AWARD OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES, 

REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES, AND PAYMENT OF SERVICE AWARDS 

 Plaintiffs, individually and on behalf of the Settlement Class, respectfully move this 

Court for an order (i) awarding attorneys’ fees in the amount of $13,795,000; (ii) reimbursing 

Plaintiffs’ counsel for their out-of-pocket costs and expenses in the amount of $437,440.88; and 

(iii) awarding service awards of $5,000 each to the nine individuals who served as proposed class 

representatives during the course of the litigation. 

The requested fee award approximates the market value of the legal services provided by 

Plaintiffs’ counsel. The requested award constitutes approximately thirty-one percent of the 

common fund obtained on behalf of the Settlement Class, which is at or below (i) the market 

rates in commercial litigation in the Seventh Circuit, and (ii) the rates Plaintiffs’ counsel 

frequently negotiate when retained by public entity and corporate clients. Additionally, fee 

awards in other class actions in the Seventh Circuit confirm that 31% is at or below what the 

market would pay for the services rendered. The requested award is also appropriate in light of 

“the risk of nonpayment” that Plaintiffs’ counsel bore and the “stakes” in the case, as well as “the 

quality of [counsel’s] performance” and the “amount of work [that was] necessary to resolve the 

litigation.” In re Synthroid Mktg. Litig., 264 F.3d 712, 721 (7th Cir. 2001). Finally, the support of 

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the trustee for the PFG estate, who opted to enter into a cooperation agreement with Plaintiffs’ 

counsel rather than to independently assert claims, and who supports Plaintiffs’ counsels’ request 

for a 31% fee award, is compelling evidence that the free market would support the request. 

If the Court were to apply the lodestar method, rather than the percentage of the fund 

method, to calculate an appropriate fee award, the same conclusion would hold true: the 

requested award is fair and reasonable given the amount of time invested and the results 

achieved. Plaintiffs’ counsel have a combined lodestar of $9,880,467.11 at their current rates. 

Plaintiffs’ counsel incurred $437,440.88 in out-of-pocket expenses during this litigation 

for which they seek reimbursement, including for filing and appearance costs, charges for expert 

consulting, travel, copying and printing, discovery related costs including ESI database 

management. Cost reimbursements are generally reimbursed to attorneys who create a common 

fund, Synthroid, 264 F.3d at 722, and this Court and others have approved similar expense 

reimbursements in the past. See ECF 305 at 3-4; City of Greenville v. Syngenta Crop Prot., Inc., 

904 F. Supp. 2d 902, 910 (S.D. Ill. 2012); Cook v. McCarron, No. 92 C 7042, 1997 WL 47448, 

at *19 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 30, 1997), aff’d sub nom. Cook v. Niedert, 142 F.3d 1004 (7th Cir. 1998). 

Finally, Plaintiffs request an award of $5,000 each for the nine individuals who served as 

proposed class representatives during the three years of litigation. Courts in the Seventh Circuit 

regularly approve service awards in class cases and acknowledge the importance of encouraging 

individuals to serve in a representative capacity. See, e.g., Craftwood Lumber Co. v. Interline 

Brands, Inc., No. 11-cv-4462, 2015 WL 1399367, at *6 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 23, 2015). And each of 

the nine individuals in this case spent considerable time and energy helping to advance the 

interests of the Settlement Class, including by monitoring the litigation and participating directly 

in various discovery efforts. 

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In support of this Motion, Plaintiffs submit the accompanying their supporting 

Memorandum of Law; the Plan of Allocation for the Settlement Class (as set out in Exhibit D to 

the Settlement Agreement, ECF 410-7, and as summarized in the proposed Notice previously 

approved by this Court, ECF 410-4); and the supporting declarations and the exhibits thereto. 

WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court enter an order awarding the 

requested attorneys’ fees, expenses, and service awards. 

Dated: September 8, 2015 Respectfully submitted, 

/s/ Daniel C. Girard 

Daniel C. Girard 

David Stein 

Elizabeth A. Kramer 

GIRARD GIBBS LLP 

601 California Street, Suite 1400 

San Francisco, CA 94104 

Telephone: (415) 981-4800 

Facsimile: (415) 981-4846 

dcg@girardgibbs.com 

Michael C. Dell’Angelo 

Jennifer MacNaughton 

BERGER & MONTAGUE, P.C. 

1622 Locust Street 

Philadelphia, PA 19103 

Telephone: (215) 875-3000 

Facsimile: (215) 875-4604 

mdellangelo@bm.net 

Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs 

and the Settlement Class

 Norman E. Siegel

STUEVE SIEGEL HANSON LLP 

460 Nichols Road, Suite 200 

Kansas City, Missouri 64112 

Telephone: (866) 714‐7112 

Facsimile: (816) 714‐7101 

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 Douglas G. Thompson 

Michael G. McLellan 

Robert O. Wilson 

FINKELSTEIN THOMPSON LLP 

1077 30th Street NW, Suite 150 

Washington, District of Columbia 20007 

Telephone: (202) 337‐8000 

Facsimile: (202) 337‐8090 

Adam J. Levitt 

Edmund S. Aronowitz 

John E. Tangren 

GRANT & EISENHOFER P.A. 

30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 1200 

Chicago, IL 60602 

Telephone: (312) 214‐0000 

Facsimile: (312) 214‐0001 

alevitt@gelaw.com 

earonowitz@gelaw.com 

jtangren@gelaw.com 

Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee

 

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I hereby certify that on September 8, 2015, a copy of the foregoing document was filed 

electronically with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Notice of 

this filing will be sent by email to all parties by operation of the Court’s electronic filing system 

or by mail to anyone unable to accept electronic filing as indicated on the Notice of Electronic 

Filing. Parties may access this filing through the Court’s CM/ECF System. 

By: /s/ Daniel C. Girard 

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