By Mike Scarcella

June 25 (Reuters) - Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and several other law firms are pressing for larger shares of a multimillion-dollar pool for legal fees tied to the $6 billion deal that 3M MMM.N struck in 2023 to settle sprawling litigation over its combat earplugs.

Quinn Emanuel, which was assigned 4.5% of a proposed fund for legal fees, on Wednesday objected to its share. The prominent Los Angeles-founded firm said a court official's recommendation this month undervalues its role in the largest federal mass tort litigation in U.S. history.

"No other firm can claim to as long or involved a history with the subject matter and successful resolution of these lawsuits as Quinn Emanuel,” the firm told Pensacola, Florida-based U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers, who has overseen the earplug litigation.

The dispute comes as Rodgers prepares to determine how to allocate fees from the $6.01 billion settlement.

Rodgers earlier adopted a recommendation to maintain a 9% holdback to fund so-called common benefit fees, but still has discretion to reduce that percentage and shrink the pool.

If the full 9% holdback is applied, the fee pool would total about $540.9 million, putting Quinn Emanuel’s share at about $24.3 million. That figure would decrease if the court sets a smaller pool.

Quinn Emanuel on Thursday declined to comment. Several other firms also filed objections to their proposed fee shares.

In the underlying litigation, 3M denied allegations that its combat earplugs used by U.S. servicemembers caused hearing loss, saying the products are safe and effective.

A court-appointed special master's June report outlines how the fee pool would be divided, assigning firms percentage shares rather than specific dollar amounts. The total pool has not yet been set.

In its filing, Quinn Emanuel said it uncovered key facts before the multidistrict litigation began and "demonstrated a Biglaw firm could easily work with more traditional mass tort firms to maximize results at every level."

The firm said "multiple other firms that billed less time overall or in demonstrably narrower scopes received higher allocations." Quinn Emanuel did not identify any of those firms.

Quinn said its objection is not meant to “undercut allocations reflecting the significant common benefit that multiple other firms clearly provided,” but rather to highlight its surprise that its work in the litigation would be assigned a lower-end allocation.

In the three largest awards, Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz is set to receive 21%, followed by Seeger Weiss at 17% and Ciresi Conlin at 10%.

The special master said the allocations are based on each firm's overall contribution to the litigation, with final payouts to depend on the size of the fund approved by the court.

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