“This Court has had the opportunity to view the efforts of Class Counsel, Charles A. Jones during the course of the four month trial in this case and as such comments very favorably on the skill, expertise and professionalism demonstrated by Class Counsel during the course of this complex and protracted trail. This case was heavily litigated and aggressively defended for over (6) years.”

“Final Approval has now been granted to a settlement in this class action case which did not draw a single objection and appears to be fair and reasonable. As part of this settlement, all current and former salaried managers employed by defendants in a covered position between December 11, 1999, and March 10, 2005 who timely submitted a valid claim will recover approximately $233 for every week worked during the class period. This equates to over nine hours of overtime pay for every week worked during the class period for all class members who timely submitted valid claims.”

“In view of the diligent efforts in a complex area of law and the significant monetary results obtained on behalf of the class members, the Court orders the defendants pay to class counsel out of the gross settlement amount attorney fees…”

“In making this determination, the Court has considered the following factors, among others: the risks accepted by Class Counsel in pursuing this unique matter; the excellent outcome achieved for the class, including substantial recoveries for individual class members; the hard-fought nature of the litigation, including the fact that it was litigated to the eve of trial; and the development by Class Counsel of a trial methodology utilizing randomized sampling to facilitate an efficient trial of this matter.”

“Final Approval has now been granted to a settlement in this class action case which did not draw a single objection and appears to be fair and reasonable. As part of this settlement, all current and former salaried managers employed by defendants in a covered position between January 16, 2000, and April 1, 2005, who timely submitted a valid claim will recover approximately $234 for every week worked during the class period. This equates to over nine hours of overtime pay for every week worked during the class period for all class members who timely submitted valid claims.”

“In view of the diligent efforts in a complex area of law and the significant monetary results obtained on behalf of the class members, the Court orders the defendants pay to class counsel out of the gross settlement amount, attorney fees.”

“It is apparent that the settlement achieved has been well received by the Class as evidenced by the lack of objections from the Class Members to either the Settlement or the amount of fees and costs sought by Class Counsel. The rate of exclusion from the Settlement in this case is also very low (less than 0.05% of the class). Class Counsel brought to this case considerable litigation experience in complex and class action cases involving sophisticated wage and hour issues.”

“In view of the diligent efforts of Class Counsel in a complex area of the law presenting many novel questions of law, the significant monetary results obtained on behalf of the class members, and having considered all papers filed and proceedings herein and otherwise being fully informed in the matter, and good cause appearing therefore.”

“This Court has had the opportunity to view the efforts of Class Counsel, over the past six years. This case has been heavily litigated and aggressively defended for over seven (7) years. Class Counsel have successfully guided this case through class certification and the case was set for trial just three weeks before the settlement was agreed upon between the parties. In view of the diligent efforts in a complex area of the law and the significant monetary results obtained on behalf of the class members and having considered all papers filed and proceedings herein and otherwise being fully informed in the matter, and good cause appearing therefore…”

“With regard to the second factor, the effort expended by counsel in this case was considerable. Plaintiffs filed a motion to amend the complaint, which was opposed by defendants, and defendants filed a motion for summary judgment against the meal period claims, the resolution of which turned upon complex and divergent appellate opinions regarding state law. (See Feb. 14, 2006 Order re: Motion for Summ. J. 6-7.) Plaintiffs prevailed on both of these motions. Moreover, as to factor four, counsel’s skill has been adequately demonstrated by their success in this litigation.” ***

“In view of the diligent efforts of counsel in a complex area of law and the favorable outcome obtained for class members, the court finds an award of twenty-five percent (25%) of the $5,000,000 common fund, to be an appropriate amount for attorneys’ fees. The court also finds that the costs requested by counsel are reasonable and fair.”