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• Google is in a legal dispute with privacy lawyers over a $217 million fee bid in a lawsuit accusing Google of covertly tracking browser use.
• Google counters the request, proposing a $40 million fee, arguing the lawyers seek a windfall for a settlement that includes no consumer compensation.
• The lawyers argue that Google's promised privacy reforms are worth $3 billion to $6 billion to consumers, justifying their fee request.
• The outcome of this case could set a precedent for future privacy lawsuits and have implications for the broader tech industry.

In a legal battle that has spanned over four years, Google finds itself at odds with privacy lawyers over a $217 million fee bid. The lawsuit, which accuses Google of covertly tracking the internet browser use of millions of Americans, even when in incognito or private mode, has reached a critical juncture. The plaintiffs' lawyers, hailing from esteemed firms Boies Schiller Flexner, Morgan & Morgan, and Susman Godfrey, have petitioned for Google to pay them $217 million in legal fees. This is part of a settlement that requires Google, an Alphabet unit, to delete billions of records and update its privacy disclosures to users who set their browsers to incognito or private.

Google, however, has countered this request, asking U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to award the firms no more than $40 million. The tech giant argues that the lawyers are seeking a windfall for a settlement that includes no monetary compensation for consumers, especially after their failure to get the lawsuit certified as a class action. Google maintains its stance that it has not violated privacy law.

The legal fee dispute has been a point of contention in the case. Google has described the lawyers' fee bid as just another attempt to generate news and line their own pockets in a case they settled for $0. This statement was made to Reuters following a hearing in the case last month.

The Value of Privacy Reforms

The firms, however, argue that Google's promised privacy reforms are worth $3 billion to $6 billion to consumers. They have informed Judge Rogers that they invested $62.4 million in lawyer time in the case, which equates to 78,880 hours. They believe their achievements warrant a fee award more than three times that amount.

The legal fee dispute is not an isolated incident. Class action settlements often do not include a damages fund for plaintiffs, and it is not uncommon for judges to award fees in such cases. Courts have to come up with some assessment of the benefit created for the class, but in the absence of damages, it's mainly guesswork, says University of Michigan law professor Adam Pritchard.

Judge Rogers has not indicated when she will rule on the fee clash and finalize the settlement. However, during last month's hearing, she offered some insight into her thinking. She suggested that the plaintiffs were not entirely successful given their failure to win damages, but acknowledged that the proposed settlement they achieved was not insignificant. She also questioned some of the plaintiffs' billing records, stating that charging $667 per hour fees for document review seemed excessive.

Echoes of Past Legal Fee Disputes

Arguing for the lawyers, Boies Schiller chairman David Boies emphasized the difficulty of the case and said Google was unfairly taking aim at some plaintiffs lawyers logging 12-hour days when corporate defense attorneys routinely do the same. Boies Schiller's share of the requested Google award is roughly $73 million, according to a Reuters analysis of the fee request.

This legal fee dispute echoes a similar case involving Apple earlier this year. In that case, Judge Rogers awarded a reduced fee to plaintiffs lawyers who reached a $490 million settlement with Apple over allegations that CEO Tim Cook defrauded shareholders by concealing falling demand for iPhones in China. The original fee request of $122.5 million was deemed extraordinarily high, and the fee award was reduced to $107.8 million, or 22% of the settlement.

As the legal world watches with bated breath, the outcome of this case could set a precedent for future privacy lawsuits. The decision of Judge Rogers will undoubtedly have far-reaching implications, not just for Google, but for the broader tech industry and its relationship with privacy law.