U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg described the one-third cut of the common fund as “extraordinary” but justified by counsel’s “exemplary performance.” The total judgment grew to roughly $440 million once pre-judgment interest was added.

Fees and costs come out of the common fund, so they reduce what class members ultimately receive.

Individual payouts would be modest even before fees — on the order of a few dollars per person if the award stands after any appeals.

The judge’s Friday order (Aug. 28, 2026) granted the requested one-third fee despite objections from some class members. Google’s post-trial challenges to the verdict itself were also rejected around the same time.

The case

Rodriguez et al. v. Google LLC (N.D. Cal.) alleged that Google continued collecting app activity data from third-party apps (via Firebase and Google Mobile Ads SDKs) even after users turned off the “Web & App Activity” and “supplemental Web & App Activity” settings. Plaintiffs said this contradicted Google’s privacy disclosures.

A jury in September 2025 found Google liable for invasion of privacy and intrusion upon seclusion under California law. It awarded $425.65 million in compensatory damages but rejected a CDAFA claim and extra damages. The class covers users who disabled the settings between July 2016 and September 2024.

Google has said the verdict “misunderstands how our products work” and has sought to overturn it. The judge later denied Google’s bid to throw out the verdict.

The lawyers

Co-lead counsel were Boies Schiller Flexner, Susman Godfrey, and Morgan & Morgan. They worked on contingency for nearly six years, logging more than 49,670 hours. Their lodestar exceeded $56 million; the $146.8 million award is about a 2.6x multiplier. David Boies billed at $2,730 per hour.

AXJ AXJNEWS AXJ Google RichardSeeborg Rodriguez GoogleLLC Firebase California CDAFA BoiesSchillerFlexner SusmanGodfrey MorganAndMorgan DavidBoies