Quoted from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-19/merck-s-vioxx-fund-must-pay-lawyers-who-led-case-315-million-judge-rules.html
Merck's Vioxx Fund Must Pay Lawyers Who Led Case $315 Million, Judge Rules
By David Voreacos and Jef Feeley - Oct 20, 2010 11:21 AM ET
A lead group of lawyers will get $315.3 million for doing most of the work on lawsuits against Merck & Co. over its Vioxx painkiller while other attorneys who filed suits will share $1.24 billion, a judge ruled.
Lawyers who worked for the so-called common benefit of the plaintiffs in thousands of lawsuits against Merck deserve 6.5 percent of the $4.85 billion settlement, less than the 8 percent they initially sought, said U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon in New Orleans.
Fallon said in August 2008 that lawyers who sued could collect as much as 32 percent of the settlement. The judge ruled yesterday that the $315.3 million in common-benefit fees will come from the total legal fees, leaving $1.24 billion for other lawyers who sued Merck.