Brent Bauer v. Qwest Communications Corporat

SYKES, Circuit Judge.

More than 13 years ago, trial lawyers around the country began challenging the installation of fiber-optic cable on landowners’ property without consent. After protracted class-action litigation in many states, these challenges began to settle on a state-by-state basis, leaving a platoon of lawyers to sort out the allocation of awarded and expected attorney’s fees between themselves.

The lawyers have informally grouped themselves into three factions for purposes of the present fee-allocation dispute; the groupings are based on the lawyers’ negotiation and litigation…