"They gave us the option of taking the deal with no legal fees or fighting on in a battle they 'strongly' thought they could win. However, they did warn us that there may potentially be fees."
I assume "they" are your own attorneys not the class action attorneys ? If they take on your individual case it all depends on the retainer agreement. If it is a "contingency" agreement you won't owe them any attorney fees should you lose. Possibly "costs" depending on the agreement. And if you win their attorney fees are a percentage of the damages awarded you. If it is on an hourly basis (i.e. no contingency) then yes-should you lose (or win) you will owe your attorneys their fees based on their hourly fee as per the retainer agreement.
Remember a contingency agreement -which I believe would be standard in this type of case-means their recovery (atty fees) is contingent on a successful result. If you lose you don't owe them anything and they don't get any fees. Again, depending on the agreement you may still be responsible for the "costs" that the attorneys had to put out in preparing the case.
BTW: at the end of the day all this is negotiable. I.e. Many times an attorney on a contingency case may agree to reduce his percentage of the recovery if he believes the settlement offer is excellent and the chances of winning may not be-especially if he has a recalcitrant client.