Opinion ID: 785066
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Amount of fee award to plaintiffs' counsel

Text: 78 Appellants argue that the district court awarded excessive attorney's fees to plaintiffs, since plaintiffs' total recovery was $60,345.45 but the court awarded $123,033.44 in attorney's fees, using the lodestar method. The district court did not err in calculating the fees based on the lodestar method, in reliance on Hensley, 461 U.S. at 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933 (stating that a good starting point is the number of hours reasonably expended multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate) and City of Burlington v. Dague, 505 U.S. 557, 562-67, 112 S.Ct. 2638, 120 L.Ed.2d 449 (1992) (holding both that there is a strong presumption that the lodestar represents a reasonable fee, and that whether a fee is fixed or contingent should have no bearing on the lodestar calculation). Extensive case authority supports the district court's use of the lodestar in this case.