A former investment banker landed a so-called incentive fee of $450,000, one of the largest of its kind, for pursuing a securities lawsuit that led to $100 million in damages against Kinder Morgan Inc.
Peter Brinckerhoff of Florida was awarded the fee for putting in more than 1,500 hours on the case, which resulted in one of the largest damage awards in the history of Delaware's Court of Chancery, which heard the case. The lawsuit benefited other investors who did not actively participate in the litigation.
"I don't know if it's the largest ever, but it's remarkably large for a securities case," said Geoffrey Miller, a professor at New York University Law School who has researched incentive awards.
Several plaintiffs and defense attorneys who specialize in securities class action cases said it was the largest incentive award they had seen.
Brinckerhoff brought the suit in 2010 to challenge a deal by El Paso Pipeline Partners, a publicly traded master limited partnership.
Vice Chancellor Travis Laster of the Court of Chancery ruled last year that the MLP overpaid when it acquired pipeline assets from its controlling parent, El Paso Corp. The judge ordered the overpayment returned to El Paso Pipeline's investors.
Kinder Morgan later acquired El Paso, and is on the hook for the damages.
Brinckerhoff had sought $1.35 million, a figure his lawyers conceded in court papers was "unusual," to compensate him for spending five years working on the case.
Brinckerhoff was an investment banker who retired from Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in 1991, according to court documents. He could not be reached for comment.
Incentive awards have been criticized as "bounties" that encourage wasteful class actions, and in 2003 Congress briefly considered banning them in federal courts.
Laster, who approved the award, has a reputation for being tough on fees when he questions the value of the litigation. In Brinckerhoff's case, Laster awarded $33 million for lawyers with Rosenthal, Monhait & Goddess and Bragar Eagel & Squire.
Lawyers for the law firms did not respond to a request for comment.
Ted Frank, a critic of what he views as abusive tactics in class action cases, said incentive awards are more troubling when they are paid in settlement agreements.
"I don't necessarily have a problem with it," he said of the Brinckerhoff payment.
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