Victory in Bayer

As a result of our objection in the Bayer class action settlement, the parties modified the settlement to increase direct payments to the class by over $5.8 million, over 25 times as much as the class would have received in the cy pres-heavy settlement had we not objected. A second objection to one of the cy pres recipients resulted in a beneficiary more aligned with the purpose of the litigation. The district court has not yet finalized its decision on the fees to be awarded to plaintiffs’ counsel. We’ll be seeking modest attorneys’ fees to come out of class counsel’s share; if we are awarded more than $50,000 (less than 1% of the additional benefit to class members), we’ll cede the rest to the settlement fund.