American Vision Partners Breach Lawyers Ask for $583,275 — One Third of the $1.75 Million Fund — and Tell the Court Nobody Has Objected. Opt-Outs and Objections Are Due October 13, 2026; Claims Run to November 12.

If you are one of the roughly 258,070 people whose Social Security number was exposed in the 2023 American Vision Partners breach, the money you can get comes from a single $1,750,000 pot — and on September 29, 2026 the lawyers who negotiated it asked for a third of it. In their motion for fees, expenses and service awards (Doc. 109), class counsel write: “Plaintiffs and their Counsel now seek an award of attorneys’ fees in the amount of one third of the Settlement Fund ($583,275) plus $14,945.31 in out-of-pocket litigation expenses.” They also ask for $2,500 for each class representative; the June 30 preliminary approval order appointed 15, which would come to $37,500 by our arithmetic.

The request matches what the court-authorized notice announced — “33.33% of the value of the settlement” — and it is measured on the $1.75 million cash fund, not on the separately funded security measures. The motion backs it with a lodestar cross-check: about 821.7 hours of work billed at the firms’ standard rates comes to $680,966.90, so the requested fee is a “negative lodestar multiplier of .85” — about $97,691.90 less than the time value, by our subtraction. The expenses are “filing fees, mediation fees, and pro hac vice fees.”

On the class’s reaction, the motion says: “As of the filing of this motion, no class members have objected to the Settlement or the attorney fee and expense request.” The court ordered the fee motion filed at least 14 days before the opt-out and objection deadline precisely so class members can read it before deciding; that deadline is October 13, 2026. Nothing has been decided: the judge rules on the settlement and on the fee request together at the final hearing. The defendants — Medical Management Resource Group, L.L.C. (doing business as American Vision Partners), Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center, PC, and Southwestern Eye Center, Ltd. — deny any wrongdoing.

“How much do you usually get from a data breach settlement?” For this one, nobody has published a number — not the court, not Kroll. What is fixed: members of the Damages Settlement Class choose one payment, not both. Either documented out-of-pocket losses up to $3,000, or a pro rata cash payment that the notice says “may increase or decrease … subject to the Settlement Fund cap.” The other roughly 1.34 million of the approximately 1,600,000 people affected are only in the Injunctive Relief Class and receive security commitments, not cash.

The fee motion lets us tighten the estimate we published on September 26. These are our calculations, not official figures:

• $1,750,000 minus $583,275 in fees, $14,945.31 in expenses and up to $37,500 in service awards leaves $1,114,279.69 — before administration costs, which have not been disclosed, and before documented-loss claims.
• Spread over all 258,070 eligible people, that is $4.32 each. But only those who file share in it.
• If 2% of the Damages Class chose the pro rata payment (about 5,161 claims), the pool would come to roughly $216 each; at 5% (about 12,904 claims), roughly $86; at 10% (about 25,807 claims), roughly $43.

Kroll’s cost and every approved out-of-pocket claim come off the top, so the real figure will be lower than these numbers. Kroll filed a declaration with the court on September 29 alongside a second motion (Doc. 108), which would normally report claim and opt-out counts; it is not publicly available yet, so the number of claims so far is unknown.

One discrepancy is worth knowing about. The fee motion describes each Damages Class member as “being entitled to a year of credit monitoring as well as up to $3,000 in documented losses, or a pro rata alternative cash payment.” The court-authorized notice lists no credit-monitoring benefit; it only lets you claim back “credit monitoring costs that were incurred on or after November 2023” as an out-of-pocket expense. Unless the court or Kroll says otherwise, go by the notice: there is no free monitoring option on the claim form.

• October 13, 2026 — last day to opt out or object; both must be mailed and postmarked by that date. Opting out is the only way to keep your own right to sue over the breach, and you give up any payment. Opt-outs must be sent individually; group requests are not accepted. An objection can target the settlement, the $583,275 fee request or the service awards.
• November 12, 2026 — claim deadline, online at AmericanVisionSettlement.com or by mail postmarked by that day to Settlement Administrator – 83312, c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, P.O. Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391. In the notice’s words: “TO RECEIVE AN ELECTRONIC OR ACH PAYMENT FOR YOUR VALID CLAIM, YOU MUST FILE A CLAIM FORM ONLINE.”
• Final hearing — the notice and the June 30 order set it for December 10, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. MT, Courtroom 605, Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse, 401 W. Washington St., Phoenix. Since then the case has changed judges, and the docket shows an order resetting hearings on August 31, 2026. The settlement website’s home page has been indexed showing December 14, 2026 at 10 a.m. MT. We could not open that page (it blocked our requests) or read the reset order, so treat the date as unconfirmed and check the official site before you plan to attend. The June 30 order says moving the hearing does not change the opt-out, objection or claim deadlines unless a later order says so.

Money comes later: “Damages Class Benefits will be distributed after the settlement has obtained Court approval and the time for all appeals has expired.” No payment date has been published.

Yes. This is a court-supervised class action settlement. Judge Humetewa granted preliminary approval on June 30, 2026 and approved the notices and claim form, and Kroll Settlement Administration is the appointed administrator. The notice gives one website, AmericanVisionSettlement.com, and one phone number, (833) 630-5366. It asks class members not to contact the court, the clerk or class counsel for information. A legitimate notice from Kroll will send you to that website or that P.O. box. Be suspicious of any message that asks for a fee, sends you to a different site, or asks for your full Social Security number by text or phone. Our Kroll settlement administration page explains how to tell the real letters and emails from fakes.

A legitimate settlement can still be a poor deal for you. If you have large documented losses from the breach, the $3,000 cap may matter more than the pro rata payment, and opting out by October 13, 2026 is the only way to keep your own claim. If you are not sure whether you are in the Damages Class, the notice tells you to call Kroll at the number above.

American Vision Partners, the Arizona management company behind Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center and Southwestern Eye Center, discovered the cyberattack on or about November 14, 2023. According to the notice, attackers reached names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, contact details, and medical treatment and health insurance information. Multiple suits were filed over the breach and consolidated into a single action in Phoenix. The settlement splits the class in two: about 258,070 people with exposed Social Security numbers can claim cash, and everyone whose data the company holds receives security commitments that the defendants pay for outside the fund.

A one-third fee is common in small data breach funds, and the fee motion cites Ninth Circuit cases approving it. The judge can still award less. Our first report on the settlement’s terms, with the class definitions and the full list of security measures, is here. Our data breach settlement calculator compares payouts across cases.