FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, D.C. — The Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute mourns the death of former U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, who passed away on November 10, 2026, at the age of 87.
Judge Posner served on the Seventh Circuit from 1981 to 2017, including as Chief Judge from 1993 to 2000. Appointed by President Reagan, he was a pioneering figure in the law-and-economics movement and one of the most influential and widely cited legal scholars of the modern era. His opinions combined rigorous economic analysis with a practical focus on real-world consequences and incentives.
His work was especially meaningful to HLLI’s Center for Class Action Fairness (CCAF), whose work was inspired by Judge Posner’s and his colleague Judge Frank H. Easterbrook’s innovative analytical approach to class actions. CCAF attorneys successfully argued appeals before Judge Posner several times, resulting in such landmark rulings as Pearson v. NBTY, Inc. (2014), Redman v. RadioShack Corp. (2014), and In re Walgreen Co. Stockholder Litigation (2016). In Pearson, Judge Posner rejected a settlement that awarded class counsel nearly $2 million while delivering only about $865,000 in cash to class members (plus a speculative cy pres award), emphasizing that fees must be measured against the actual benefit received by the class rather than hypothetical maximums or administrative costs. In Redman, he dismantled a coupon settlement, holding that a fee award approaching or exceeding the real value delivered to class members is unreasonable. In the Walgreen shareholder case, he reversed approval of a disclosure-only settlement that yielded fees for class counsel and nothing of value for the class, writing that “the type of class action illustrated by this case—the class action that yields fees for class counsel and nothing for the class—is no better than a racket. It must end.” CCAF relies on these well-reasoned precedents in most of their cases, and will be citing Pearson in its upcoming certiorari petition in St. John v. Patacsil.
“Judge Posner brought uncommon intellectual clarity and candor to the problem of class-action settlements that benefit lawyers far more than the people they purport to represent,” said Ted Frank, co-founder and director of litigation at the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute. “In Pearson, Redman, and Walgreen, he refused to accept inflated valuations or the pretense that administrative costs, coupons, and worthless disclosures substitute for meaningful relief to class members. Posner’s landmark opinions on class action fairness are quoted in HLLI briefs in pending cases even today. His insistence that class actions must actually serve class members, rather than become a racket, has been foundational to the work of the Center for Class Action Fairness. We are grateful for his example and mourn his loss.”
Judge Posner’s scholarship and jurisprudence leave a lasting imprint on American law. HLLI extends its condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.
Contact:
Ted Frank, Senior Attorney
(703) 203-3848, ted.frank@hlli.org
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