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.…
Under the settlement, class members will receive $10 vouchers for use on Art.com's ecommerce sites. The settlement has hallmarks of the coupon-settlement abuse that Congress targeted with the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005.
Washington Examiner cites Anna St. John's piece on a class action suit involving the Metropolitan Museum of Art and how similar suits can harm cultural institutions. ... Cultural institutions harmed by lawsuits Anna St. John for the Competitive Enterprise Institute: A New York trial court recently approved a class-action settlement in a case filed against the Metropolitan Museum of Art based on its allegedly deceptive admissions policy. The settlement requires the Met…
This week, 13 state attorneys general filed an amicus brief in support of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Class Action Fairness (CCAF) and its objection to a consumer privacy class action settlement involving Google because it provides millions of dollars to attorneys and zero dollars to the class.
Not only did class counsel make no effort to distribute any money to the class here, but there are obvious conflicts of interest associated with the cy pres recipients, Frank asserted, noting that Google is a regular donor to four of the entities and co-lead class counsel Brian Strange is board chairman of another, Public Counsel.
