The proposed settlement provided class members with worthless injunctive relief, simply codifying labeling changes that Harmless Harvest voluntarily made in 2015, but would have provided $575,000 to attorneys and named plaintiffs. The court agreed with CCAF that the settlement was not fair, reasonable, and adequate.
CCAF attorney Theodore H. Frank won an appellate victory granting him intervention against the filers of strike suits that harm shareholder. Here, plaintiffs convinced Akorn to pay $322,500 in attorneys’ fees, although no benefit has accrued to the class—only immaterial supplemental disclosures.
"It was wonderful to see the principle vindicated," that cases without benefits to absent class members should not be certified.
The Center for Class Action Fairness (CCAF) today filed a reply brief in In re Google Inc. Cookie Placement Consumer Privacy Litigation arguing that the cy pres distribution in the proposed settlement is unfair to the class when direct compensation through a claims process is feasible.
Theodore Frank, an activist who founded the Class Action Fairness Center, objected to the deal on several grounds, including that some of them had prior relationships with Google as well as the lawyers representing the consumers.
"We had hoped the court would recognize that this settlement exemplifies the worst of lawyer-driven class actions and should not be approved under existing law,” said CCAF director Ted Frank about the decision. “The class relief is entirely illusory and yet the attorneys claim they are entitled to millions of dollars in fees."
The settlement in this antitrust price-fixing case unlawfully reduces the recovery of those class members who have stronger claims than others. In this type of settlement, relief distributed pro rata to a nationwide class is a false justice because those with legitimate claims receive less relief than they deserve while class members with no legal claim stand to receive an undeserved windfall.
CCAF objects to settlement in antitrust price-fixing case which includes a nationwide class indirect purchasers of lithium ion batteries in a variety of electronic equipment. Only about 26 states provide a cause of action for such indirect purchasers, however, so recovery to those class members will be diluted by payments to claimants without meritorious claims.
William Chamberlain said the settlement offered little more to consumers than a 22-word statement set to be posted on a seldom-viewed Facebook help page. Chamberlain also objected to the more than $3.8 million in fees and costs the plaintiffs' legal team requested for its work.
Class Attorneys Poised to Rake in $745k while class gets $10 coupons Objecting today to the class action settlement in Knapp v. Art.com, the CCenter for Class Action Fairness (CCAF) opposes the settlement which provides class members with a $10 voucher while class counsel rakes in $745,000 in fees. “This settlement exemplifies the abusive coupon settlements that Congress tried to stop with the Class Action Fairness Act,” said CCAF attorney Ted Frank.…
