Lawyers who helped Enron investors recover their losses will be paid $688 million in fees in the largest payday in US legal history.

Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, the law firm that recouped $7.2 billion, mostly from Enron’s former banks, had the fee payment approved by a US court yesterday.

The court said it was “a reasonable fee earned by an extraordinary group of attorneys”.

Patrick Coughlin, a Coughlin Stoia partner, said :”We’re pleased that the court recognizes the tremendous amount of work, skill and determination required to overcome significant obstacles in this complicated case,”

About 1.5 million individuals and institutions will be eligible to share in the distribution under the settlement plan.

The distribution plan was part of a $40 billion lawsuit filed by shareholders and investors, who claim Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and others participated in the accounting fraud that led to Enron’s downfall.

Calculating what share of the $7.2 billion recovery pot each investor and institution is entitled to will depend on a combination of factors including the price they purchased their shares at and the type of shares bought.

At its height, Enron’s common stock sold for as much as $90 per share, before plummeting to as low as $1 before the company declared bankruptcy.

Under the plan, investors will get an average of $6.79 per share of common stock and an average of $168.50 per share of preferred stock.

To be eligible for the settlement, investors and shareholders needed to have bought Enron or Enron-related securities between September 9, 1997 and December 2, 2001.

Attorneys for several investors objected to the distribution plan and the attorneys fees.

“This court reiterates that there is no way to allocate these proceeds that would not in some way favour or disfavour to some degree some of the [investors],” the Judge said.

“On the whole, the court finds that ... the chosen method is fair, adequate and reasonable.”

Several financial institutions have not settled and remain as defendants in the Enron case, including Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse First Boston and Barclays Bank.

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