A few weeks ago, the Duke Law Center for Judicial Studies held a conference on class action settlements in San Diego, to discuss best practices in the wake of the likely Rule 23 amendments. Like all of its conferences, this one was held under the Chatham House Rule, which dictate that you can
attorneys fees
Class Action Summer Camp – Rule 23(e) & Settlement
By The Editors on
Posted in Settlement
My apologies for missing last Thursday’s post: life with a newborn occasionally catches up with one. Nonetheless, finishing out our July Class Action Summer Camp, today we’ll focus on Rule 23(e) and class-action settlements. The vast majority of class actions settle, but because class-action settlements implicate so many different interests (the lawyers, the defendant…
E-book Price Fixing – The Benefit of State AG Actions
By The Editors on
Posted in Settlement
Last Friday, Thomson/Reuters reporter Alison Frankel (who should be on every class-action lawyer’s RSS feed) wrote about an example of a new strategy class-action defendants have developed over the past few years. That strategy? Work with the government. In this case, publishers Harper Collins and Hachette–two of the defendants in both the Justice Department’s recent…
Are Class Action Lawyers Paid Too Little? Lester Brickman Laughs (Book Review – Lawyer Barons)
By The Editors on
Posted in Lawyers
Cardozo law professor Lester Brickman has been a longtime critic of the contingency fee system. So it’s no surprise that his latest work, Lawyer Barons: What Their Contingency Fees Really Cost America (introduction here), has a lot to say about how contingency fees skew the incentives of plaintiffs’ lawyers. Among the most interesting observations…
Are Class Action Lawyers Paid Too Little? Sometimes …
By The Editors on
Posted in Settlement
Brian Fitzpatrick’s argument that courts should approve more fees for class action plaintiffs’ lawyers has generated its share of discussion. And a few months ago, the Seventh Circuit weighed in (sort of), during an argument about fees for objectors in In re Trans Union Corp. Privacy Litigation.
Judge Posner (who has decided a…
The Importance of Transparency in Class Settlements
By The Editors on
Posted in Settlement
Most professional objectors are fee-seekers (or, as one court called them, "remoras"). But not all; some, like the Public Citizen Litigation Group and the Center for Class Action Fairness, are non-profits that seek to keep class settlements for the benefit of class members instead of class counsel.
Alan B. Morrison, one…
Are Class Action Lawyers Paid Too Little? Still No.
By The Editors on
Posted in Lawyers
Last year, Vanderbilt professor Brian Fitzpatrick made the bold argument that class action plaintiffs’ attorneys aren’t paid enough. Now, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review’s online presence, PENNUmbra, has a response by University of Arizona professor David Marcus.
Marcus levels several criticisms against Fitzpatrick’s proposal. I’m going to ignore the easy ones and…