The settlement and fee request would provide only 30% of the funds to class members, 25% to attorneys, 5% to the settlement administrator and about 40% or $16 million to third party organizations, called cy pres. The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the diversion of class funds.
Anna St. John of the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute objected to the excessive $87.73 million fee request requested by plaintiffs' counsel, which represents 28.3% of the $310 million “megafund” settlement reached over Apple’s practice of “throttling” processor power in older iPhones.
Class member William Yeatman objected to a settlement that provides no direct benefit to class members but instead pays $1.75 million as “cy pres” to fund the creation of a new non-profit.
HLLI successfully filed a civil rights suit against the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to block implementation of a rule that would limit speech by Pennsylvania-licensed attorneys. HLLI unsuccessfully appealed to the Supreme Court concerning the revised rule that replaces the one already found to be unconstitutional.
HLLI attorney Anna St. John objected to a settlement with The Children’s Place because it would pay attorneys over $1 million in fees while leaving class members with only small $6 coupons that few class members will use.
CCAF's objector contended that only 25% of the cash fund should be awarded to the attorneys until the actual redemption rate of coupons is known. Prior to the fairness hearing, class counsel agreed to defer fees pending coupon redemption, thus resolving Faber's primary objection.
Much like the Google referrer case that CCAF argued before the Supreme Court, plaintiffs' attorneys have achieved a settlement worth a fraction of pennies-on-the-dollar, then argued that the modest recovery excuses them from actually having to benefit class members. Class member David Lowery objects.
The Center for Class Action Fairness objected on behalf of two class members to the infamous Equifax data breach class action settlement. The settlement is rooted in a fundamental failure to adequately represent the class.
The Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute represents an objector to the settlement of McKinney-Drobnis v. Massage Envy Franchising LLC, which provides only coupons to class members, including those who no longer subscribe to Massage Envy, while earmarking $3.3 million for attorneys' fees in cash.
CCAF successfully represented Prof. Todd Henderson, who objected to a settlement that provides him $4.50 and all class members put together less than one seventh of the $6.85 million attorneys' fee request, premised on a “$27 million” injunction that did nothing.
