[mark212]

in class actions, the compensation is very much "controlled and limited." The lawyers have to make a separate motion to be awarded fees and there is intense scrutiny by the court and potential objectors of every dollar requested.

The benchmark in the Ninth Circuit is 25% of the common fund, but district courts almost always also ask for a "lodestar cross-check," which is the hours expended by the plaintiffs' firms multiplied by their customary hourly rates, plus expenses. It's often a very contentious battle to establish a reasonable hourly rate and will turn on the relevant legal market (SF has higher rates than, say, Tulsa even for the same sort of work), the attorney's experience, the results obtained, and so on. And the judges often cut hours, saying they were duplicative or excessive for whatever reason. This can be used to increase or (more commonly) decrease from the 25% benchmark.