Wilson v. HUUUGE, Inc.

Filing 141

ORDER granting Class Counsel's 121 Motion for Attorneys' Fees, Costs, and Class Representative Incentive Awards. The Court awards Class Counsel $1,625,000 in attorneys' fees; awards Class Counsel costs and expenses in the amount of $27,487.04; awards Sean Wilson an incentive award of $10,000; and awards Heidi Hammer an incentive award of $1,000. Signed by Judge Robert S. Lasnik.(PM)

Case 3:18-cv-05276-RSL Document 141 Filed 02/11/21 Page 1 of 5

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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SEAN WILSON, individually and on behalf of
all others similarly situated,

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Plaintiff,
v.

No. 18-cv-5276-RSL
ORDER GRANTING CLASS
COUNSEL’S MOTION FOR
ATTORNEYS’ FEES, COSTS, AND
CLASS REPRESENTATIVE
INCENTIVE AWARDS

HUUUGE, INC., a Delaware corporation,
Defendant.

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Order - i

E DELSON PC
350 N LaSalle Street, 14th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654
Tel: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

Case 3:18-cv-05276-RSL Document 141 Filed 02/11/21 Page 2 of 5

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WHEREAS, Plaintiff has submitted authority and evidence supporting Class Counsel’s
Motion for Award of Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses and Issuance of Incentive Awards; and

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WHEREAS, the Court, having considered the Motion and being fully advised, finds that
good cause exists for entry of the Order below; therefore,

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IT IS HEREBY FOUND, ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED THAT:

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1.

Unless otherwise provided herein, all capitalized terms in this Order shall have

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the same meaning as set forth in Class Counsel’s Motion for Award of Attorneys’ Fees and

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Expenses and Issuance of Incentive Awards.

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2.

The Court confirms its appointment of Jay Edelson, Rafey S. Balabanian, Todd

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Logan, Alexander G. Tievsky, and Brandt Silver-Korn of Edelson PC as Class Counsel.

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A.

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Attorneys’ Fees
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Class Counsel has requested the Court calculate their award using the percentage-

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of-the-fund method. Class Counsel requests the Court award 25% of the $6.5 million common

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fund as attorneys’ fees.

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4.

These requested attorneys’ fees, which reflect the “benchmark” fee award in

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common fund cases, are fair and reasonable. See Vizcaino v. Microsoft Corp., 290 F.3d 1043,

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1052 (9th Cir. 2002). The Court reaches this conclusion after analyzing: (1) the extent to which

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class counsel achieved exceptional results for the class; (2) whether the case was risky for class

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counsel; (3) whether counsel’s performance generated benefits beyond the cash settlement fund;

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(4) the market rate for the particular field of law; (5) the burdens class counsel experienced while

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litigating the case; (6) and whether the case was handled on a contingency basis. In reaching this

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conclusion, the Court has also taken into account the settlements reached, and fee awards

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requested, in the Kater v. Churchill Downs and Wilson v. Playtika actions.

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5.

Class Counsel performed exceptional work and achieved an exceptional result for

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the Class. Class Members stand to recover substantial portions of their Lifetime Spending

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Amount on Defendant’s Applications.

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Order - 1

E DELSON PC
350 N LaSalle Street, 14th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654
Tel: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

Case 3:18-cv-05276-RSL Document 141 Filed 02/11/21 Page 3 of 5

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6.

Class Counsel further achieved exceptional non-monetary benefits for the Class.

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Among other things, Defendant has agreed to meaningful prospective relief for the Class,

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including providing addiction-related resources on the Applications and creating a robust self-

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exclusion policy within the Applications.

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7.

This litigation was extremely risky for Class Counsel. Class Counsel worked

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entirely on contingency, prosecuted a line of several class actions against well-funded

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corporations, and pursued an entirely novel legal theory: that Defendant’s internet-based “social

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casinos” violated Washington’s “Return of Money Lost at Gambling” statute (RCW 4.24.070).

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Class Counsel also defended the Class’s interests before the Washington State Gambling

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Commission and the Washington State Legislature.

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8.

The market also supports Class Counsel’s fee request. Contingency arrangements

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in high-stakes, high-value mass litigation typically fall in the range of 30-40%. See Declaration

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of Charles M. Silver ¶¶ 47-53. Further, the mean percentage award of attorneys’ fees in class

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actions in the Ninth Circuit is 24.5% of the common fund, and the mean percentage award in this

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District is 26.98%. See Declaration of William B. Rubenstein ¶ 14.

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9.

The Court is not required to conduct a lodestar cross-check, Farrell v. Bank of

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Am. Corp., N.A., 827 F. App'x 628, 630 (9th Cir. 2020), and declines to do so here. Given the

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unique circumstances presented by this litigation, in particular the significant amount of non-

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legal work that had to be performed to turn back industry efforts to obtain protective legislation

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and to prevent participation in this lawsuit, the Court concludes that a lodestar cross-check would

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not be a valuable tool to help assess the reasonableness of Class Counsel’s fee request. See

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Declaration of William B. Rubenstein ¶¶ 20-22; Declaration of Charles M. Silver ¶¶ 72-76.

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10.

The Court grants Class Counsel’s request for a fee award of 25% of the common

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fund, or $1,625,000.

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B.

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Costs and Expenses
11.

In addition to the fee request, Class Counsel requests reimbursement of

$69,284.48 in costs and expenses.
Order - 2

E DELSON PC
350 N LaSalle Street, 14th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654
Tel: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

Case 3:18-cv-05276-RSL Document 141 Filed 02/11/21 Page 4 of 5

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12.

The Court finds most of these costs and expenses to be reasonable and

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appropriate. See Dennings v. Clearwire Corp., No. C10-1859-JLR, 2013 WL 1858797, at *10

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(W.D. Wash. May 3, 2013), aff’d (Sept. 9, 2013). The amount will be reduced, however, by the

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$41,797.44 attributed to “conducting a website-based ‘opt-out’ campaign.” Dkt. # 122 at ¶ 30.

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There is no indication in the record that such a campaign was mounted as to these defendants or

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the March 2020 Governing Law and Binding Arbitration pop-up. Id. at ¶¶ 10-20. The Court

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consequently awards Class Counsel reimbursement of $27,487.04 in costs and expenses.

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C.

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Incentive Awards
13.

Class Counsel requests an incentive award of $10,000 Sean Wilson and an

incentive award of $1,000 for Heidi Hammer.

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14.

The requested incentive awards are fair and reasonable. Wilson invested

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substantial time in this case, risked reputational harm, and otherwise made significant

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contributions to the Class. A $10,000 incentive award is reasonable for his services. See

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McClintic v. Lithia Motors, Inc., No. 11-cv-859-RAJ, 2011 WL 13127844, at *6 (W.D. Wash.

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Oct. 19, 2011). Hammer reviewed the terms of the settlement and stepped forward to share her

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approval of the settlement with the public. A $1,000 incentive award is reasonable for her

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services. See In re Portfolio Recovery Assocs., LLC, Tel. Consumer Prot. Act Litig., No. 11-md-

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02295, 2017 WL 10777695, at *3 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 25, 2017) (incentive award appropriate where

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class representatives “were required to review documents” and “they will earn little for their

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efforts without [] incentive payments”).

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D.

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Conclusion
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Based on the foregoing findings and analysis, the Court awards Class Counsel

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$1,625,000 in attorneys’ fees; awards Class Counsel costs and expenses in the amount of

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$27,487.04; awards Sean Wilson an incentive award of $10,000; and awards Heidi Hammer an

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incentive award of $1,000.

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//
Order - 3

E DELSON PC
350 N LaSalle Street, 14th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654
Tel: [phone] • Fax: [phone]

Case 3:18-cv-05276-RSL Document 141 Filed 02/11/21 Page 5 of 5

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated this 11th day of February, 2021.

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ROBERT S. LASNIK
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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Order - 4

E DELSON PC
350 N LaSalle Street, 14th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654
Tel: [phone] • Fax: [phone]