Fewer than 20,000 class members have bothered to go through the arduous claim procedures in the Bayer Corp. class action, which caps recovery for most of those class members at $4 unless they saved several-year-old receipts for aspirin products. The class will ultimately receive well under $500,000.
Class counsel have a $3.9 million lodestar, but are seeking $16.5 million for a settlement where the class will get three cents on the dollar for their alleged damages. The Center is objecting on behalf of a client.
In addition to the objection to the Citigroup Securitiessettlement, we were busy in December: Another bad coupon settlement: In re EasySaver Rewards Litig., No. 09-cv-2094 (S.D. Cal.). The $20 face value of the coupons is illusory, because the coupons preclude the use of the normal 20% offers on the defendant's website. Of course, the class counsel is seeking fees based on the face value; the settlement has illegal cy pres, too. We objected on behalf of…
In the In re Apple MagSafe Power Adapter Litigation, the attorneys walked away with $3.1 million, while the class got less than $1 million, and likely less than a quarter of what the attorneys got. The district court (Judge Ware in the N.D. Cal.) not only rubber-stamped the settlement while ignoring the Bluetooth precedent, but then issued an order to protect the illegitimate settlement, requiring a punitive appeal bond or the dismissal of any…
The Center for Class Action Fairness is putting that question to the test by asking the District of New Jersey to dismiss shareholder litigation that makes cosmetic changes to corporate governance, and then presents a $10.45 million bill to shareholders—150% of the already high "lodestar"—for the involuntary consulting arrangement
“If Facebook is already giving money to these charities, then this isn’t a “$10 million settlement,” it’s just a change in accounting entries,” he said.
On July 31, district courts substantially reduced attorney fees in two class action settlements where Center for Class Action Fairness attorneys objected. In the Nutella litigation in the District of New Jersey, Judge Wolfson agreed with our objection that the parties overstated the value of the injunctive relief, and reduced the fee award from $3,725,000 to $1,125,000. More discussion at Point of Law. And in the remand of the Bluetooth class action settlement in the Central District of…
Briefing is complete, and oral argument will be some time in the second half of September. Details at Point of Law.
