Thrower’s case got off to a rough start. The government reviewed the allegations and decided not to step in, telling her legal team there was not enough evidence of systemic fraud at Academy. Most plaintiffs would have walked away at that point. Thrower did not. Her attorneys at Thomas & Solomon, a seven-person firm out of Rochester, New York, launched their own investigation. They spent weeks building a call sheet of former Academy employees across the country, cold-calling them and conducting interviews about the company’s underwriting practices. That investigation turned up new evidence, and the firm filed an amended complaint.Â
Then things got worse before they got better. Academy moved to have the case thrown out. And in an unusual move, the government joined in – not on Thrower’s side, but on Academy’s. The government filed its own motion to dismiss, arguing the case was not worth the cost. At the time, no court had ever allowed a whistleblower lawsuit to continue over the government’s objection. Thrower’s attorneys fought both motions and won. The district court denied both.Â
By late 2022, Academy settled for $38.5 million. Nearly $27 million went back to the government. Thrower received about $11.5 million.Â
That should have been the end of it. But the settlement left the question of attorneys’ fees unresolved. In mid-January 2023, the parties agreed to dismiss the fraud claims, but Thrower’s fee claims were expressly carved out and left pending. On January 27, 2023, the district court approved the settlement and entered an order reflecting that arrangement. Thrower then sought over $13 million in fees and expenses.Â
Sixteen months later, on May 31, 2024, the district court decided the fee dispute. It calculated a base fee of roughly $4.37 million for Thomas & Solomon’s work and then applied a 1.75 multiplier, pointing to the exceptional outcome and the firm’s investigative efforts. The total attorneys’ fee award came to approximately $8.59 million, plus $89,437.77 in expenses.Â
