Court Upholds Allocation of $3.8 Million Fee Award in Asbestos Case

PHILADELPHIA - A Pennsylvania trial court did not err when it used a broad percentage-of-recovery method to determine fees awarded to four firms that represented a class of plaintiffs in a $12.6 million asbestos settlement, the state's Superior Court has ruled. Kalkus v. United States Gypsum Co., No. J-A07016-01 (Pa. Super. Ct.).

In an unpublished opinion released July 18, the Superior Court said it was the nature of the suit that permitted the trial court to use its broad discretion in distributing the nearly $3.8 million in fees among the four firms.

Following negotiation of the settlement, the Philadelphia law …