When Weil, Gotshal & Manges litigators get tapped for an antitrust class action, it’s usually playing defense. But some role reversal paid off for Weil in February, when a judge signed off on a $58.5 million settlement that Weil negotiated with performance rights organization SESAC LLC and awarded the firm $16 million in class counsel fees.
The deal caps more than five years of litigation over claims that SESAC violated federal antitrust law by issuing blanket, all-or-nothing copyright licenses to local televisions stations. U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan awarded Weil a little more than $16.1 million, or about 27 percent of the settlement amount, to cover fees and expenses it racked up as counsel for the plaintiffs, a group of network television affiliates.
