Mayer Brown Seeks Nearly $3 Million at California District Court in Fees Over FCA Case

Mayer Brown wants nearly $3 million in legal fees over a False Claims Act case it won for Island Industries in which a California district court said that Japanese manufacturer Sigma Corporation avoided antidumping duties. Petitioning the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Mayer Brown said that the $3 million request for fees, costs and expenses -- amounting to around 11.3% of the total judgment -- is "eminitely reasonably and justified" given Sigma's complex defense of its actions in multiple venues (United States v. Vandewater International, C.D. Cal. #17-04393).

The district court recently issued its final judgment in the case, finding that Sigma, along with other companies, violated the FCA over welded outlet imports from China (see 2202090071). Sigma was found to have failed to pay AD duties on the imports while submitting false information to the U.S. government over the applicability and amount of duties owed. The judgment came after a three-day jury trial wherein Sigma was ultimately found liable for over $24.2 million in damages and $1.8 million in civil monetary penalties.

In its bid to the court to recoup attorney's fees, Mayer Brown said that it was outmanned and outspent. Sigma had no less than four active attorneys at all times while Island Industries only had two, the motion said. Further, in a pre-trial motion, Sigma said it incurred $5.4 million in fees, while Island's fees capped just below $3 million. Mayer Brown said its hours and rates are reasonable for the services it rendered.

"Obtaining a complete victory against Sigma took considerable amounts of effort and time, but Mayer Brown worked efficiently," the brief said. "The voluminous records submitted with this application contain day-by-day and timekeeper-by-timekeeper entries, presented chronologically since the beginning of this case. These records sufficiently justify the fees Island incurred from the inception of this lawsuit in October 2016 through February 2022."