The legal architects of a $700 million settlement against Google are now asking the court for their reward: an $85 million fee for the work that brought the tech giant to the negotiating table.
The two firms—Bartlit Beck and Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer—filed their request with U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco. The settlement itself, unveiled last year, still awaits final approval.
Under the deal, Google agreed to funnel $630 million into a consumer fund and another $70 million into a state-managed fund, with all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands on board. Consumers who used the Play Store between August 2016 and September 2023 are set to receive at least $2, with potential for more depending on how much they spent.
At the heart of the lawsuit were claims that Google inflated prices through restrictive app distribution policies and unnecessary in-app fees. Google, while denying wrongdoing, also agreed to loosen rules for developers and consumers—making it easier to sidestep the company’s payment system and download apps directly from the web.
Judge Donato has previously voiced skepticism over whether the settlement delivers enough for consumers. Still, the fee request amounts to roughly 13.5% of the consumer fund, backed by nearly 100,000 hours of lawyer time spread across three years. No state has objected to the proposed payout, though individual Play Store users will get a chance to raise their concerns.
The case is officially known as In re Google Play Consumer Antitrust Litigation, pending in the Northern District of California.
