Attorneys representing investors that settled with Vanguard for $25 million to end claims the company improperly triggered an asset sell-off that damaged investors asked a Pennsylvania federal court on Tuesday to award them $8.3 million in fees in addition to other expenses.

Class counsel for the investors said an $8.3 million payout, which is equal to about a third of the settlement amount, is reasonable considering the attorneys have spent over 6,100 hours litigating the action, and will continue devoting time to the case as the parties prepare for the final approval hearing scheduled for Jan. 6.

Additionally, the attorneys seek approximately $941,000 in expense reimbursement and $20,000 service awards for each of the suit's 12 named plaintiffs.

"Given Plaintiffs' extensive efforts on behalf of the Settlement Class and the size of the Settlement achieved, these awards are reasonable and in line with other awards granted by courts in the Third Circuit," Tuesday's motion states.

The settlement was preliminarily approved in September by U.S. District Judge John Murphy.

The parties agreed to a settlement amount lower than the previous $40 million offer to account for a parallel U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission settlement with Vanguard, which would award $133 million to the investors who agreed to settle in the class action before the federal court, according to a September court filing.

The dispute arose after investors filed a putative class action against Vanguard in 2022, arguing that the company breached its fiduciary duty and failed to protect its smaller investors in an attempt to lower fees. Investors in what are known as set-it-and-forget-it funds were forced to sell off as much as 15% of their assets, leaving those with taxable accounts holding the bag, they said.

Representatives of the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

The plaintiff investors are represented by Gregory Dovel, Julien Adams, Jonas B. Jacobson, Christin Cho and Simon Carlo Franzini of Dovel & Luner LLP, Joshua Baker, Phillip Kim, Jonathan Stern, Erica L. Stone and Jacob A. Goldberg of The Rosen Law Firm PA, Kenneth J. Grunfeld of Kopelowitz Ostrow Ferguson Weiselberg Gilbert, Mark C. Rifkin and Matthew M. Guiney of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP, Richard M. Golomb and Kevin W. Fay of Golomb Legal, W. Daniel Miles III and James B. Eubank of Beasley Allen Law Firm and Timothy Brown of The Brown Law Firm PC.

Vanguard and its officers are represented by Brandon Fetzer, Elliot Greenfield and Maeve O'Connor of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Samuel W. Silver of Welsh & Recker PC.

The independent trustees managing the funds are represented by Andrew J. Ehrlich and Daniel J. Kramer of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP and Francis P. Devine III and Michael E. Baughman of Troutman Pepper Locke LLP.

The case is In re: Vanguard Chester Funds Litigation, case number 2:22-cv-00955, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.