House v. NCAA settlement documents reveal how much money the plaintiffs made, including former Arizona State swimmer Grant Houseand the plaintiff’s law firms could get out of the case.

Plaintiffs

The class representatives, or the student-athletes who filed the lawsuits and represent all student-athletes, plan to receive compensation for their involvement in the case.

“The class counsel also plans to seek service awards for each of the class representatives. Based on their contributions and commitments, the settlement agreement contemplates awards of up to $125,000 each for Grant HouseSedona Prince and Tymir Oliver (the “NIL Plaintiffs”), and up to $10,000 each for DeWayne Carter and Nya Harrison (the “Carter Plaintiffs”),” the settlement document reads.

The settlement includes House v. NCAA, a lawsuit filed in 2020 that centers on athletes’ ability to profit from their name, image and likeness. House, former TCU basketball player Sedona Prince and former Illinois football player Tymir Oliver could each receive up to $125,000 from their portion of the settlement.

The House settlement was combined with Carter v. NCAA, another class suit filed in 2023 that concerns monetary compensation from the NCAA to current and former athletes. Former Duke football player DeWayne Carter and Stanford football player Nya Harrison could receive up to $10,000 in the settlement. Both antitrust cases are represented by the same law firms and have already begun to influence the NCAA’s financial decisions.

Plaintiff Lawyers

The plaintiff’s two law firms in House vs. NCAA charge hundreds of millions of dollars in a non-traditional fee structure for their work on the case.

Law firms Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and Winston & Strawn reported that they have billed more than 72,000 hours to the case since 2020. To compensate, they have asked for a fee structure that would give them $20 million upfront. In addition, they asked for a percentage of the back pay that the NCAA is expected to give to former student-athletes as compensation for missed NIL opportunities. The law firms’ reduction of these delinquencies could total up to $495.2 million.

In which Reuters in what is being called the most novel part of the payment structure, the law firms also asked for a portion of the money that schools would use to pay current student-athletes. Each annual fee payment requires court approval. The plaintiffs estimate that part of their compensation could reach $250 million over 20 years.

Lead attorneys for both firms, Steve Berman and Jeffrey Kessler, both argued that the compensation is reasonable given the size and historic nature of the settlement.

Chairman Claudia Wilken must approve the compensation structure that the companies requested. Wilken must also finalize the settlement itself, which still includes opposition lawsuits. including opposition from swimmers.

The historic case then began Grant House challenged the NCAA’s policy of not allowing swimmers to profit from their name, image and likeness. It has already given student-athletes the option to accept NIL deals. It also aims to increase spending for schools, eliminate team scholarship limits and implement roster limits.