Craig v. Advanced Hearing Technologies, Butler Cty. Case No. 2009 01 196, unfair contract terms, filing against consumers in distant forum, class counsel Miriam Sheline

Pogrebinsky v. POM Wonderful, ND Ohio, Case No. 10-1455, marketing misrepresentations, class counsel Frank Piscitelli

DeWeese v. Big O Tires, gift cards, Southern Dist. Ohio, Case No. 09-57, final hearing August 11, 2010, 6,015 Ohio class members, class counsel Jeffrey Harris

Ramirez v. Epana Networks, calling cards, Dist. New Jersey, Case No. 08-4040, final hearing not yet scheduled, unknown number of Ohio class members, class counsel James Cecchi

ATTORNEY FEES

Dobina v. Carruthers, ND Ohio Case No. 09-2426, PIF 2864

Plaintiff sued Defendants, alleging violations of FDCPA.  After reaching a settlement, Plaintiff submitted a fee application to the Court for approval.  Defendants objected to the fee request, claiming that it was excessive in light of Plaintiff's recovery, as well as fee awards in previous cases.  The Court held that fees awarded in other cases may be evidence of the market rates, but they do not set the market rates.  The Court found that, in this case, a rate of $300 per hour for the two attorneys and $100 per hour for the paralegals and law clerks was a reasonable rate and that, with two exceptions, the hours spent on the litigation were reasonable.  The Court reduced the hours spent preparing the fee application to 3% of the total hours spent on the case as a whole, and reduced the paralegal time by .3 hours spent electronically filing the complaint, as that was a clerical task that did not require a paralegal's expertise.  The revised amount of attorney fees awarded to Plaintiff was $4,860 plus costs of $350.

Last July, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray launched a program to help small businesses and nonprofits recover dollars lost to deceptive business practices and scams. Since then, more than 1,250 small businesses and nonprofits have sought assistance, resulting in the recovery or savings of more than $115,000.

“Many Ohio businesses have 20 or fewer employees and lack the resources to pursue disputes,” Cordray said. “Our office provided the required effort and leverage to right the wrongs of unscrupulous business practices.”