July 14 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has declined to approve

$94 million in additional legal fees for a group of attorneys

who already collected more than $269 million in fees for

securing $1.2 billion in settlements with auto parts makers.

Chief U.S. District Judge Sean Cox in Detroit called the

plaintiffs' fee request "excessive" in a ruling on Friday.

Cox said the attorneys from law firms Susman Godfrey;

Cotchett Pitre; and Robins Kaplan were owed more compensation

for their latest and fifth settlement rounds. But the judge said

the amount should be "far less" than $94 million and asked the

lawyers to refile their request closer to the end of the

settlement claims process.

The law firms represent consumer and commercial auto parts

buyers who accused auto parts makers of conspiring to fix

prices.

Companies including Denso; Hitachi Automotive; and

Mitsubishi Electric ( MIELF ) were among dozens of defendants that settled

with the plaintiffs in recent years. They all denied any

wrongdoing. The litigation began in 2012, following a U.S.

Justice Department probe of some manufacturers.

The plaintiffs' lawyers in May asked Cox to approve the

additional fee award, covering legal work from 2019.

Several companies that are members of the class of parts

buyers, including car rental dealers Hertz and Avis

, objected to the $94 million fee request, arguing that

the lawyers had already been amply compensated.

Lawyers requesting the fees at Susman Godfrey; Cotchett

Pitre; and Robins Kaplan did not immediately respond to requests

for comment. Hertz and Avis did not immediately respond to

similar requests.

In a court filing, the plaintiffs' lawyers said the $1.2

billion settlement was "believed to be the largest amount ever

obtained on behalf of indirect purchasers in the history of U.S.

antitrust litigation."

The case is In re Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation,

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, No.

2:12-md-02311.

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