Litigation

Class Action Rip-Off -- 900% Contingent Fee -- I Can't Stand It Anymore

By Michael Krauss

As Ted Frank has reported elsewhere, he (thanks to his Center for Class Action Fairness) is my attorney in an objection I have filed to a proposed class action settlement.

The class, subscribers to Classmates.com, is to receive next to nothing in the settlement (the grand total distributed is just over $100,000). Plaintiffs' attorneys get just over $1,000,000 for this magnificent service -- a tidy 900% contingency. The class judge gets to distribute $500,000 to the charity of his choice -- is this a way of ensuring approval of the settlement? To object, four different letters must be posted -- the stamps themselves may cost more than any payoff for prospective objectors. Well, I (though my attorney) am objecting. Hopefully, my case will produce a new precedent precluding such abuse.

Full post as published by Point of Law on October 10, 2010 (boomark / email).