Cy pres relief remains controversial among courts , but it’s like catnip to legal academics. Now, Notre Dame professor Jay Tidmarsh has published his take on it: Cy Pres and the Optimal Class Action. Like many other academics, Professor Tidmarsh is attracted by the argument that cy pres relief can deter corporate misconduct by
cy pres
The ALI & Cy Pres – In re USF
Today’s case, In re Universal Serv. Fund Telephone Billing Practices Litig., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80204 (D. Kan. Jun. 7, 2013), provides an unusual situation for a class action. First of all, it involves a verdict in a class action trial. Second, it is one of the first trial court opinions to pay attention…
The Cy Pres Incentive Problem
This week’s article is a student comment: George Mason 3L Jennifer Johnston has published an interesting discussion of the problems that arise from cy pres distributions, Cy Pres Comme Possible to Anything is Possible: How Cy Pres Creates Improper Incentives in Class ActionSettlements, 9 J.L. Econ. & Pol’y 277 (2013). Her primary argument…
Class Action Summer Camp – Rule 23(e) & 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…
More on Cy Pres – Rohn v. TAP Pharamceuticals Products, Inc.
Much has been written in the last few years about cy pres relief (relief that goes, not to class members, but to ) in class action settlements. While plaintiffs and defendants still find cy pres to be a valuable for increasing settlement amounts, the practice has come under increasing fire from some scholars and…
Highlights from the ALI Principles of Aggregated Litigation Panel
My apologies for posting late this week; I’m suffering from a little jet lag. I spent yesterday in Virginia at the annual conference for the American College of Court Business Judges, where John Beisner and I were presenting a number of developments in class action litigation. Today I’m England, and by tonight, I will be…
The Problems with Inflating Class Settlements – Klier v. Elf Atochem Inc.
While it remains popular among settling lawyers and courts, the doctrine of cy pres in class actions (where defendants wind up paying charities with an ostensible link to the gravamen of a lawsuit) has been garnering criticism for some time. A few federal district courts (including the Southern District of New York and the District…
Classic Scholarship – Nonpecuniary Class Action Settlements
This month’s look at "classic" class action scholarship focuses on the article Nonpecuniary Class Action Settlements by Geoffrey Miller and Lori Singer. Like the name suggests, nonpecuniary settlements are settlements that don’t require cash payments to the absent class members. According to Miller and Singer, they include:
- Coupon settlements.
- Monitoring settlements, "where the defendant endows
…
Does Cy Pres Relief Violate the Rules Enabling Act?
Skadden attorneys John Beisner, Jessica Miller, and Jordan M. Schwartz have drafted a white paper for the Institute for Legal Reform titled “Cy Pres: A Not So Charitable Contribution to Class Action Practice.” Relying heavily on Martin Redish’s critique of cy pres recovery, they trace cy pres relief from…
The Strategic Dilemma of Bad Settlements – Mirfasihi v Fleet Mortgage
When a defendant is faced with a class action complaint, sometimes the best strategy appears to be to settle quickly, before having to engage in costly litigation or burdensome discovery. But, as readers of this blog know, that strategy is not always as straightforward as it first seems. In today’s case, we have another…