Scott Holland at the Cook County Record detailed HLLI’s recent Seventh Circuit win in the Akorn cases.
Easterbrook detailed the history of similar instances in which parties file lawsuits seeking additional disclosures during corporate acquisitions, without challenging the existing disclosures, leading to added disclosures, dismissal and payment of mootness fees.
“And if a class member finds out and objects, as Frank did, he is met with the response that the suit is moot and there is nothing to object to,” Easterbrook wrote. “The upshot: money moves from corporate treasuries to plaintiffs’ lawyers; the investors get nothing, yet the payment diminishes (though only a little) the market price of each share.”
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The panel ordered the remand, instructing Durkin to treat Frank as an intervenor and allow a motion for relief.
In an email replying to questions from The Cook County Record, Frank said: “We’re evaluating our options on remand in light of the opinion; the district court has ordered a status report to be filed shortly. But we expect to proceed.”
Frank has built a reputation for decades, objecting to class action settlements, most of which greatly benefit trial lawyers, while providing little relative relief for class members. According to his bio, his work has generated “tens of millions of dollars for consumers and other plaintiffs.” The American Lawyer Litigation Daily has called Frank “the indefatigable scourge of underwhelming class action settlements.”