Judge Slashes Attorney Fees Over Google $90M Play Store Settlement Mismanagement
America ı By Rihem Akkouche
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A California federal judge sharply criticized the legal and administrative teams managing Google’s $90 million antitrust settlement with Play Store developers, vowing to "substantially" reduce the attorneys' fees over issues with claim payments. During a heated status conference on Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Donato condemned the settlement administrator, Angeion Group, for its poor handling of developer payments, calling it "the worst performance I've seen."
Google Deal Atty Fee Trims : Complaints Over Unpaid Claims
The hearing was convened after two class members reported difficulties obtaining information about their settlement payments. Judge Donato noted numerous complaints from developers, pointing out that a significant amount of money remains undistributed.
"People are complaining, and it looks like there's a relatively large amount of money that's just hanging out," the judge said. "People say they're calling and calling and calling, and nobody is answering."
Ben Harrington of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, representing the class, acknowledged that 422 developers did not receive their checks due to an address error. These checks were initially sent to outdated addresses that Google had on file, instead of the updated addresses provided by class members on their payment selection forms. Harrington assured the court that the issue had been corrected.
Unclaimed Funds and Communication Failures
Judge Donato was particularly concerned about the uncashed checks totaling $15.3 million, which represents 45% of the class members, or 21,449 developers, who have yet to deposit their settlement payouts. He expressed frustration over the communication failures, emphasizing that these class members are "computer-savvy developers" who should not have trouble accessing their funds.
"It's just wasted money," Judge Donato said. "You've done a poor job of telling people, 'Here are your checks, cash them'."
The judge instructed Harrington to collaborate with Angeion Group to implement a more "aggressive" outreach plan and file a detailed report within 30 days outlining steps to ensure that developers receive their payments.
Discrepancies in Payment Distribution
Further complicating matters, approximately $11.4 million—about 20% of the remaining settlement funds—has yet to be distributed due to insufficient tax and contact information for about 4% of the class members. Harrington noted that obtaining taxpayer identification numbers is a legal requirement for issuing payments exceeding $600.
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