By Marisa Kendall, From The Recorder

SAN JOSE — A federal judge has signaled he’s likely to award a large chunk of the $50 million requested by plaintiffs lawyers who prevailed in litigation against the NCAA, calling it possibly “the most significant antitrust case of the era.”

At a hearing Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins called the groundbreaking case against the National Collegiate Athletic Association an “adventurous and risky lawsuit.”

Michael Hausfeld of Hausfeld LLP secured a ruling from U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken, which granted college athletes the right to be paid for their appearances on television and as avatars in video games. The decision will change American culture, Cousins said.

“My view is that the result is an exemplary and surprising result given the challenges they faced at the beginning of the case,” he said.

Schiff Hardin attorneys representing the NCAA have tried to cut the payout down to $8 million. They argue plaintiffs lawyers are seeking fees for claims that fell flat, and that they padded their lodestar.

Hausfeld sometimes had 20 lawyers in the courtroom during trial, “only one of whom did anything,” said Schiff Hardin partner Gregory Curtner. “The others were simply there.”

Bonny Sweeney, who joined Hausfeld in January from Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, said the NCAA’s attempt to cut the fee request by more than 80 percent is absurd.

“This result has been recognized in the legal community and in the press, in the legislature, as a sea change in how the NCAA treats its student athletes,” she said. “Everyone except the NCAA recognizes that this was a huge victory for student athletes and a major loss for the NCAA.”

Following a three-week bench trial last year, Wilken ruled the NCAA must allow colleges to pay athletes up to $5,000 a year in licensing revenue for television and video game contracts. She also ordered the NCAA to increase men’s football and basketball scholarships by about $3,000 a year.

In October, Hausfeld asked the court for $45 million in fees and $5.3 million in costs.

The NCAA lawyers described the case as a “tale of two lawsuits.” Plaintiffs got nowhere with claims they filed in 2009 on behalf of former student athletes, so they re-tooled the case in 2012 to focus on current student athletes. Curtner argued Hausfeld cannot seek compensation for anything relating to the first half of the case, and their fees for the latter half should be reduced to reflect their limited success.

Edward O’Bannon Jr., the named plaintiff and a former UCLA basketball player, didn’t get a nickel from the case, Curtner pointed out. None of the players recovered damages.

Sweeney conceded the case evolved over the years. But she said the main objective was always the same—to challenge the anti-competitive rules that prevented college players from receiving compensation for the use of their names, images and likenesses.

Instead of comparing the case to Charles Dickens, Cousins said a better allusion might be George R. R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones,” the basis for the hit HBO series.

“This is a case against a supersized institution,” he said.

Cousins agreed that plaintiffs lawyers didn’t succeed on every issue they brought, and therefore said he is not inclined to grant a multiplier that would inflate the $45 million fee request .

Cousins also acknowledged at any moment the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit could reverse the student athletes’ win and make his fee determination moot. Lawyers for the NCAA argued their appeal last month before a three-judge panel.

The NCAA had asked to defer the fee hearing until after the Ninth Circuit’s decision. Cousins denied the request, partly because he said his decision in O’Bannon v. NCAA, 09-3329, may help Wilken determine fees in similar cases.

Earlier this month, four groups of plaintiffs attorneys began staking their claims for fees earned in pretrial settlements that netted a total of $60 million for college athletes. Hausfeld wants almost $10 million in fees and costs for securing a $40 million settlement with EA Games and the Collegiate Licensing Co. in 2013. Another group of firms, led by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, wants almost $9 million for its role in the same settlement. The Hagens Berman team has requested another $6 million for settling claims against the NCAA for $20 million in June, just before the O’Bannon class took the association to trial.

Smaller firms also are vying for a slice of the pie. New Jersey lawyers with The McKenna Law Firm and Lum, Drasco & Positan have requested $896,919. And Timothy McIlwain, who brought precursor claims against EA Games in New Jersey, wants more than $5 million for creating a “substantial and common benefit for the class” through his victory for college athletes in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. McIlwain has accused Hagens Berman of reneging on an agreement to split fees 60-40 in the EA Games settlement.

Lawyers for Hagens Berman objected to McIlwain’s request Monday, claiming he played no role in either of the settlements, and pointing out McIlwain’s client, former Rutgers University quarterback Ryan Hart, ultimately refused to sign the EA Games deal and fired McIlwain.

Robins Kaplan represents McIlwain in his bid for attorney fees. Judge Wilken is expected to hear arguments in July.

IMAGE: Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins, Northern District of California

Jason Doiy / The Recorder

For more on this story go to: http://www.therecorder.com/id=1202725020892/Hausfeld-to-Reap-Hefty-Fees-for-NCAA-Suit#ixzz3YtnxTMag