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Macey & Miller Post Article on Judicial Review of Class Action Settlements on SSRN

Professor Jonathan R. Macey (Yale) and Geoffrey P. Miller (NYU) recently posted an Article entitled Judicial Review of Class Action Settlements on SSRN. Here is the Abstract:

This article proposes a simple and coherent approach to judicial review of class action settlements. Specifically, we propose that for questions going to the adequacy of a settlement, where no warning signals of fraud or collusion are found, the court should act relatively deferentially by employing a lenient standard of scrutiny and approving a settlement if it has a rational basis. An intermediate level of scrutiny should apply when the settlement presents facial issues that implicate the fairness of the settlement. Such facial issues include the allocation of settlement proceeds among subgroups in a class, the presence of coupon-type relief, "shotgun" settlements occurring very early in the litigation, and settlements in overlapping class actions. In settlements with one or more of these characteristics, if the initial inquiry raises concerns, the court should demand a well-reasoned explanation for the choices made. Finally, where the components of a settlement present a direct conflict between the interests of class counsel and those of the class issues, such as issues related to attorneys' fees, courts should employ exacting scrutiny and require convincing evidence that the proposal is reasonable.

This Article may be downloaded by visiting http://ssrn.com/abstract=1349463.

Full post as published by Federal Civil Practice Bulletin on March 16, 2009 (boomark / email).