(Reuters) – Law firm Winston & Strawn asked a federal judge in California on Tuesday for an award of $6.6 million in legal fees for its work on a $24 million settlement resolving equal-pay claims that the US women’s national soccer team brought against the governing body US Soccer.
The Chicago-based law firm touted its legal services securing what it called a landmark agreement for the US women’s national soccer team. The firm said its demand amounted to 30% of part of the settlement awarding damages under the US Equal Pay Act.
The deal resolved a long-running dispute over claims from US women soccer players that they were paid less than male players.
US District Judge R. Gary Klausner preliminarily approved the settlement in August. Klausner is expected to weigh final approval at a hearing in December.
Lead plaintiffs’ attorney Jeffrey Kessler, Winston’s co-executive chair and a veteran antitrust and sports law trial lawyer, said the firm took on the players’ gender discrimination case “entirely on contingency — recognizing that there might never be payment for the thousands of hours worked or invested millions of dollars in the case.”
Kessler on Wednesday did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment about the fee petition.
A lawyer for US Soccer, Jamie Wine of Latham & Watkins, did not immediately respond to a similar message. A spokesperson for US Soccer also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kessler said in the plaintiffs’ fee petition that class member Hope Solo has objected to the deal. Solo’s lawyers described the fee request as “improper as neither reasonable nor necessary.”
An attorney for Solo on Wednesday did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The plaintiffs’ fee filing argued that Solo “ignores the tremendous amount of work spent by class counsel to achieve an eight-figure settlement, equal pay, and equal working conditions.”
The settlement includes a $22 million payment that will be distributed to players based on individual playing time, and an additional $2 million payment will be used to create a fund to support players’ post-career initiatives.
The deal also includes an equal-pay component for current and future US women’s soccer players.
The players’ fee filing showed that Kessler has billed this year at $1,795 an hour, the highest amount among other Winston partners.
Winston said the firm would seek to collect fees “incrementally” over four years in a structure allowing the players “to realize millions of dollars faster.”
The case is Morgan v. US Soccer Federation Inc., US District Court, Central District of California, No. 2:19-CV-01717.
For plaintiffs: Jeffrey Kessler of Winston & Strawn
For defendant: Jamie Wine of Latham & Watkins
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