PHILADELPHIA – Class action attorneys who sued over a second Mariner East pipeline in Pennsylvania are now asking for nearly $4 million from a settlement they obtained.
The firms Bernstein Litowitz and Barrack, Rodos & Bacine on Sept. 2 asked the Philadelphia federal court to award it $3.75 million from a proposed $15 million agreement with Energy Transfer, whose parent company is Sunoco Pipeline.
Among the lead plaintiffs are the Allegheny County Employees’ Retirement System, which alleged the company lied to investors about the quality of the Mariner East II pipeline. The project, which transports natural gas from Western Pennsylvania to Delaware County, encountered numerous challenges, including millions in penalties issued by the state over pollution charges.
The investors’ lawsuit says Energy Transfer secured permits through improper means and used a 12-inch pipeline that would limit how many barrels per day the pipeline would deliver. Reporting about then-Gov. Tom Wolf’s approval of the permits sent the share price of the company down nearly 7%.
Their case is nearing its six-year anniversary as Judge Gerald McHugh weighs the fairness of both the settlement and the amount for lawyers. McHugh in 2024 allowed claims to move toward trial.
The firms said they spent more than 80,000 hours on the case. If they used their regular billing rates, the amount would be $51 million.
“Thus, the requested fee of 25% of the settlement funds… represents a very substantial negative multiplier of 0.07 on lead counsel’s lodestar,” the motion for fees says.
“The fact that the requested fee is substantially less than counsel’s lodestar strongly supports the reasonableness of the request.”
The firms also say they racked up $2.3 million in costs and seek reimbursement for those.
“These expenses include, among others, expert/consultant fees, mediation fees, document management costs, online legal and factual research, photocopying and postage expenses,” the motion says.
Experts and consultants charged $1.4 million.
