"The fact that legal aid organizations do good things and could use the money doesn't justify the means," said Frank, who is also director of the Center for Class Action Fairness at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
“The settlement at issue in Frank vs. Gaos epitomizes cy pres abuse in class actions, where money is funneled to a slush fund for lawyers to send to their alma maters and pet causes rather than their clients,” CEI Senior Attorney Melissa Holyoak told Legal Newsline.
“EasySaver is a disturbing example of how the Ninth Circuit’s lenient approach to cy pres in class action settlements creates an incentive for class attorneys to favor sending money to their preferred causes and institutions even when distribution of funds to the class is feasible,” said [Ted] Frank.
NYT: Theodore H. Frank is familiar with the adage that a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client. But later this month, he will stand before the Supreme Court to argue his own case.
A deal resolving claims that online consumers were automatically enrolled in a rewards program will stand, but the $8.7 million fee for class counsel must be recalculated, the Ninth Circuit held Oct. 3.
While Judge Durkin refused Frank’s request to intervene as a litigant, the judge said the plaintiffs’ attorneys must address Frank’s contentions concerning the Walgreen decision before allowing the attorneys to keep their fees.
In what's believed to be the first time a federal appellate court has been given a chance to address the issue, the Center for Class Action Fairness filed a brief with the Seventh Circuit that attacks the mootness fee racket.
Theodore Frank has been firing shots at so-called “cy pres” settlements—an especially controversial component of some class actions—for more than a decade. On October 31, he will take his crusade all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, lock, stock and barrel.
CCAF senior attorney Melissa Holyoak told me: “Attorneys’ fees should always be based upon and proportionate to the relief actually received by class members—that’s something we fight for on a regular basis.”
"Cy pres-only settlement arrangements embody the worst flaws of the class action settlement system and are notable in their disservice to consumers," said the coalition, which is led by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. "In cy pres-only deals, defendants and class counsel secure their own goals from the litigation while bypassing the class."
