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Fox Corp has settled a $787.5m defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over the broadcasting of false claims that Dominion’s voting machines played a part in rigging the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The case saw at least 31 lawyers from nine different law firms working on the dispute, which ended after two years. Judge Eric Davis of the Delaware Superior Court praised the legal teams on both sides, saying he had not seen “as good of lawyering” in his 13 years as a judge.
Susman Godfrey, one of two law firms representing Dominion in the case, was hired on a contingency basis, meaning that they would be paid based on the success of the case. They provided Dominion with a “substantial discount” because they saw the case as pursuing accountability for election falsehoods, according to a source familiar with the fee arrangement. The amount of the settlement that Susman Godfrey will receive in legal fees has not yet been disclosed.
According to court filings, legal fees for Dominion have accumulated to $12.2m in out-of-pocket legal costs between November 2020 and October 2022. These filings do not include recent costs or success fees associated with preparing for the trial. Susman Godfrey has pioneered the use of contingency fees in business litigation, a model more commonly used for plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits.
Winston & Strawn and DLA Piper represented Fox News and parent company Fox Corp, respectively, each fielding teams led by two partners and multiple associates, according to court filings. Fox News also hired Paul Clement and Erin Murphy, top appeals court lawyers who have advocated for conservative causes at the U.S. Supreme Court.
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In the past, law firms have seen large payouts from contingency fee arrangements if a case is successful. Susman Godfrey and another plaintiffs’ firm earned approximately $106m in 2018 under a contingency fee arrangement in a class action that secured $590m in combined settlements with major banks accused of manipulating the Libor benchmark interest rate, according to court documents.
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Staple Street Capital Group LLC, the small buyout firm that owns Dominion, will also receive a major windfall from the settlement.
Clare Locke, a firm specializing in defamation cases, represented Dominion alongside Susman Godfrey. They previously represented former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in a libel lawsuit against The New York Times.
Tom Clare, a partner at Clare Locke, told Reuters that the firm recognized the significance of the case for the entire country and the integrity of elections. Clare refused to discuss the firm’s legal fees but said its small size allowed it to be “flexible” in structuring agreements with clients.
Legal fees can be extremely high in cases like this, with partners at large corporate law firms sometimes billing over $2,000 per hour, as filings in other cases have shown.
