Lawyers Receive Major Cash Out

A proposed deal filed jointly by the plaintiffs and defendants in a Brooklyn federal court last week would settle charges that Mastercard and Visa charged excessive fees. The settlement would include a $6.05 billion cash payment to retailers, as well as a temporary card-fee reduction valued at $1.2 billion. If this deal is approved, it would become the largest antitrust settlement in the United States history. Reuters has the full story:

“The lawyers who brought the case on behalf of dozens of major merchants and trade associations have yet to submit their bill to the court. But using past mega-settlements as a guide, the lawyers could be awarded roughly 10 percent of the cash settlement -- translating to $600 million, said Theodore Eisenberg, a professor at Cornell Law School who has studied class action settlements.”