Pearson v. NBTY, Inc.
Thanks to the Center’s objection, the parties negotiated a new settlement providing the class with more than $3 million additional recovery.
Southwest Airlines Voucher Litigation
The Center’s client objected to a settlement over Southwest drink coupons given to “Business Select” passengers as a perk. Thanks to the Center’s involvement in the case, in 2017 the parties agreed to a resolution providing class members triple the recovery than would have been provided under the 2012 settlement agreement.
In re: Bayer Corporation Combination Aspirin Products Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation
As a result of the Center’s objection, the parties modified the settlement to increase direct payments to the class by over $5.8M. Our second objection resulted in a third-party recipient of settlement funds that better suited the purpose of the litigation.
Perryman v. Romero
The Center for Class Action Fairness objected to and then appealed the approval of a nationwide class settlement where 0.2% of the class received a cash benefit, a total of $225,000, and the remaining class members received low-value coupons. In the same settlement, $8.85 million went to the plaintiffs' lawyers and $3 million to local San Diego universities.
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City of Livonia Employees Ret. Sys. v. Wyeth
The Center represented a shareholder objecting to a securities class action wherein the $16.5M plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fee request was 4.2 times their normal billing rate. The district court reduced the excessive fee request by $3M.
Citigroup Inc. Securities Litigation
CCAF objected to the fees in a securities class action in which class counsel sought an outsized percentage of the $590 settlement fund. Ultimately, the parties agreed to waive their cy pres provision in favor of distributing more money to class members.
BankAmerica Corporation Securities Litigation
CCAF represented an objecting class representative on appeal. The Eighth Circuit adopted all of CCAF's arguments; it held that charitable donation of class monies was inappropriate and that cy pres payments should only be used if further distribution to the class is not feasible. In addition, the court criticized the choice of the cy pres recipient because the St. Louis legal aid society was unrelated to the securities injuries alleged in the lawsuit.
Baby Products Antitrust Litigation
The Third Circuit held that the disproportionate ratio requires scrutiny from a district court, and that courts and class counsel should not be indifferent to whether recovery goes to class members or cy pres. On remand, the parties modified the settlement to provide approximately $15 million of additional direct recovery to class members, and the district court awarded CCAF fees for its role in improving the settlement.
Blackman v. Gascho
CCAF sought Supreme Court review for a challenge to a lopsided class action settlement agreement that left over 90 percent of the class with nothing while the lawyers got an outsized, 60 percent share of the settlement fund.
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In re: Johnson & Johnson Derivative Litigation
The Center objected to a settlement that paid the class $0, established meaningless corporate governance changes, and paid the attorneys over $10 million: the court agreed that fees were excessive and reduced the request by $4.6 million.