Zappos 2012 data breach settlement
The argument is that the total amount of the settlement is important as a disincentive to corporations to engage in negligent behavior, and that the disproportionate amount of money that goes towards the attorneys is necessary to convince said attorneys to take up such cases.Of course, one could also argue that this has just created a new form of venture lawyering, with attorneys who give zero shits about their clients chasing compliance violations rather than ambulances, and businesses baking these lawsuits into their profitability calculations.