Gibson attorneys seek one-third of the settlement pot
In a court filing, lawyers called the nearly $37 million request “reasonable” and “appropriate” based on the risk and hours involved.
Attorneys for the home sellers in the Gibson commissions case are ready for their paychecks.
On Wednesday, they submitted a request for one-third of the combined $110.6 million in settlement funds paid by nine brokerage companies in the case, including Compass and Redfin.
The case: The Gibson suit was filed immediately after the jury reached its verdict in the landmark Sitzer/Burnett case. It was the first of the commissions copycat lawsuits, laying out very similar claims but naming a different set of defendants. The case was also national in scope (while Sitzer/Burnett applied specifically to Missouri homeowners), and was later combined with Umpa, another lawsuit filed in the same court.
The ask: In an August 20 filing, Gibson attorneys asked the court to approve their request for a third of the settlement proceeds — totaling roughly $36.9 million — toward payment of legal fees.
The attorneys also requested a smaller amount to cover remaining case expenses (which totaled around $13.1 million, of which $12.9 million was already paid), and asked the court to approve "service awards" of $10,000 to each of the named plaintiffs and settlement class representatives.
The settlements: The nine settlements in Gibson were reached earlier this year and are scheduled to be finalized on Oct. 31. Compass had the largest payout in the case, settling for $57.5 million. Redfin and Real Brokerage were a distant second, with each firm agreeing to pay $9.25 million in damages.
Others in this group are Realty ONE ($5 million), @properties ($6.5 million), Douglas Elliman ($7.75 million), Engel & Völkers ($6.9 million), HomeSmart ($4.7 million) and United Real Estate ($3.75 million).
The justification: In a 102-page filing submitted with the motion, law professor Robert Klonoff said that "based on the extraordinary results achieved by class counsel," one-third of the total award is reasonable for this and the other pending settlements, including the largest payouts which are yet to come: $418 million from the National Association of Realtors and $250 million from HomeServices of America.
The NAR and HomeServices settlements are scheduled to be finalized Nov. 26.
Consistent with previous settlements: The attorneys in Gibson already received approval in May for approximately one-third of the combined $208.5 million award in the RE/MAX, Anywhere and Keller Williams settlements.
In approving those fees, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Bough said it was "undeniable" that antitrust claims were challenging to prosecute.
What will class members actually receive? There are still too many unknowns to pinpoint an exact figure, but the range could be in the tens, to hundreds, of dollars. One key factor will be the return rate for claim notices — typically, fewer than 10% of eligible class members send in a claim, and often that figure is less than 1%.