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Two US Law Firms Are Feuding Over Lead In Meta’s Antitrust Class Action

By  |  February 6, 2023

Two major US law firms are feuding over which one will lead a consumer antitrust class action against Meta’s  Facebook, after a judge scrapped a prior order appointing them both as co-leaders for the plaintiffs and started from scratch.
US District Judge James Donato in San Francisco said in January that he would make a new determination to select one of the firms to lead the class action amid quarreling between Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

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    Part of the clash included a Hagens Berman partner accusing Quinn Emanuel of discounting her views based on her gender. Quinn Emanuel denied the allegation, calling it a “mystery.”

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    Related: Meta Wins Ruling Against FTC In VR Purchase Case

    The two law firms on Friday night submitted their pitches to Donato about why he should appoint them solely rather than jointly to lead the consumer class.

    In its filing, Quinn Emanuel said partner Kevin Teruya was the “architect of the consumer class’s case.” Hagens Berman in its submission questioned Quinn Emanuel’s rates, suggesting they were too high.

    Plaintiffs’ firms routinely vie for court-appointed leadership roles in class actions, allowing them to steer litigation and potentially to recover bigger portions of legal fees in cases that settle or win at trial.