If a judgment in an action maintained as a class action is rendered in favor of the class, the court in its discretion may award attorneys’ fees to the representatives of the class and/or to any other person that the court finds has acted to benefit the class based on the reasonable value of legal services rendered and if justice requires, allow recovery of the amount awarded from the opponent of the class.
R 909.Attorneys’ fees
Article 9. Class Actions · Last amended 2011 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 909 lets a court award reasonable attorneys' fees, out of a judgment favorable to the class, to class counsel or anyone else who benefited the class, and, where justice requires, order the losing opponent to pay that amount.
Full Text of CPLR 909
Plain-English Summary
Litigating a class action costs money long before anyone knows whether the class will recover anything, and someone has to be willing to front that cost. CPLR 909 addresses the payoff side of that arrangement: when a judgment in a class action comes back in the class's favor, the court has discretion to award attorneys' fees to the class representatives' counsel, or to anyone else the court finds acted to benefit the class, based on the reasonable value of the legal services rendered.
That discretion cuts against the usual rule that each side in litigation covers its own legal fees. Article 9 departs from that default because without some prospect of a fee award, few attorneys could take on the risk of representing a class through years of litigation with no guarantee of ever getting paid. The section goes a step further where justice requires it: the court can order the losing opponent, not just the class's own recovery, to cover the amount awarded.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who pays attorneys' fees in a successful New York class action?
CPLR 909 lets the court award reasonable attorneys' fees to the class representatives' counsel, or to anyone else the court finds acted to benefit the class, out of a judgment favorable to the class.
Is a fee award automatic when the class wins?
No. CPLR 909 makes the award discretionary; the court decides whether to grant fees and how much, based on the reasonable value of the legal services rendered.
Can the losing defendant be ordered to pay the class's attorneys' fees?
Yes. CPLR 909 lets the court, where justice requires it, order that the fee award be recovered from the class's opponent rather than only from the class's own recovery.
How does the court decide the amount of a fee award under CPLR 909?
The court bases the award on the reasonable value of the legal services rendered to benefit the class.
What happens to attorneys' fees if the class doesn't win?
CPLR 909 only authorizes a fee award when the judgment is rendered in favor of the class, so it doesn't apply to a judgment against the class.
Does CPLR 909 only cover fees for the named plaintiff's own attorney?
No. CPLR 909 allows a fee award to the class representatives' counsel or to any other person the court finds acted to benefit the class, not just the named plaintiff's own lawyer.
Advisory Committee Notes
A recent decision of the New York Court of Appeals, Flemming v. Barnwell Nursing Home and Health Facilities, Inc., 15 N.Y.3d 375, 912 N.Y.S.2d 504, 938 N.E.2d 937 (Oct. 21, 2010) highlights what the Committee believes to be a deficiency in the scope of CPLR § 909, which relates to the award of attorneys’ fees in class actions. That section gives the Court discretion to award attorneys’ fees to representatives of the class based upon the reasonable value of the services rendered. In Flemming , the issue was whether an attorney for an objecting member of the class, whose actions actually benefited the class, could also receive an attorneys’ fee award. The majority held that the attorney could not receive fees because of the strict wording of § 909 which limits an award of fees to “representatives of the class.” Two judges dissented, arguing that CPLR § 909 was not intended to restrict the well-established common fund doctrine, which, under the common law, allowed those whose actions benefited a common fund to receive reimbursement for their efforts.
The Committee believes that it is appropriate for the Court to allow fees to be awarded, in appropriate actions, to a party whose attorney benefits the class in some tangible way, other than as counsel to the named class members. In many class action cases, objecting parties successfully argue that the proposed settlement is inadequate, that the class should be expanded or, as in Flemming , that the fees proposed for the class representatives are too high. The Court should also have the discretion to compensate counsel for those efforts.
The Committee therefore proposes an amendment to CPLR § 909 to specifically provide that the Court may award attorneys’ fees to not only representatives of the class, but also to any person that the Court finds has acted to benefit the class.
Amendment History
Add, L 1975, ch 207, § 1, eff Sept 1, 1975; amd, L 2011, ch 566, § 1, eff Sept 23, 2011.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: class action attorneys fees New Yorkwho pays legal fees class action NYattorneys fees class action judgment New Yorkclass counsel fee award CPLR