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House v. NCAA Counsel Gets $515M in Legal Fees Approved by Court

With college athletes now submitting their NIL compensation deals to the newly established College Sports Commission, the class counsel in House v. NCAA—led by Hagens Berman’s Steve Berman and Winston & Strawn’s Jeffrey Kessler—have had their compensation approved through more traditional means.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken issued an order approving class counsel’s petition for $515.2 million in fees, plus $9.4 million in litigation expense and court costs, deeming the request “fair and reasonable” in light of the $2.78 billion settlement the lawyers helped orchestrate.

For the House case, class counsel sought $395.2 million—representing 20% of the $1.98 billion NIL Claims settlement fund—plus $60 million in fees from a separate $600 million compensation fund. An additional $20 million was awarded for injunctive relief, bringing the total to just under half a billion dollars.

Wilken also approved a $40 million award tied to the Hubbard v. NCAA portion of the litigation, which had been consolidated into House along with Carter v. NCAA.

Beyond these payments, class counsel received court approval to apply annually for compensation of up to 1.25% of the total pool of college athlete benefits—projected to total at least $1.65 billion per year. This provision could yield as much as $20 million annually over the next decade. Additionally, counsel may petition the court or a special master each year for fees related to monitoring the settlement’s implementation.

In her order, Judge Wilken also granted the requested service awards for the athlete class representatives in the House, Carter and Hubbard cases. Grant House and Sedona Prince will each receive $125,000; Chuba Hubbard and Keira McCarrell, $50,000 each; DeWayne Carter and Nya Henderson, $10,000 each; and Nicholas Solomon, $5,000.

“We are pleased to see this monumental case take another step in its final stages after 20 years of litigation for college athletes,” Berman said in a statement released through his firm.

Citing Ninth Circuit precedent, Wilken noted that class counsel typically receives a 25% benchmark for fees. She praised the legal team’s “skill and experience” and acknowledged the “extraordinary results” of the settlement, which received final approval last month.

However, not all fee requests were granted. Wilken denied a motion from law firm MoloLamken—representing several settlement objectors—to extend its deadline for petitioning fees.

In a declaration filed last month, MoloLamken partner Steven Molo told the court he had “inadvertently overlooked the fee-motion deadline,” calling it a “honest oversight” and appealing for leniency. Wilken was unsympathetic Friday.

“A mistaken interpretation or ignorance of the applicable rules does not constitute excusable neglect,” she wrote in a separate, two-page order.

Berman, who has previously clashed with Molo over the case, didn’t miss the opportunity to spike the football.

“Not only was it untimely, but they asked to delay their request until after appeals by objectors were decided—potentially holding up payments to the class while pursuing their own fees and appeals,” Berman said. “We’re grateful that this in no way delayed payments to the class, which is our sole goal and focus at this stage of the settlement.”