Frank v. Gaos: Fighting to Protect Consumers from Greedy Attorneys

Our class action legal team here at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Center for Class Action Fairness, has a new video explainer on their upcoming case before the U.S. Supreme Court this term, Frank v. Gaos. Find out how they are fighting to make sure regular people benefit from class actions settlements, rather than attorneys and special interests.

Transcript:

You may have heard of class action lawsuits, where attorneys sue someone on behalf of a big group of people. We all believe in justice but many people aren’t getting it.

While these lawsuits help some people, they’ve also become a jackpot for greedy trial attorneys who charge excessive fees and take millions of dollars for themselves… even when their clients get nothing.

And, it gets worse.

There’s also an unfair practice called “cy pres” that lawyers are now using to create a slush fund for their pet causes. They take money from settling the class action—money that should go to the class members their clients—and instead funnel it to third parties… like their alma maters… to get a building named after them? Or maybe free football tickets?

This is corruption of the legal system, plain and simple.

That’s why CEI is challenging a ridiculous class action settlement in a Supreme Court case called Frank v. Gaos. Bottom line is: the lawyers took $2 million; then they gave more than $5 million to their favorite law schools and organizations; and the class members? GOT ZILCH.

The good news is the Competitive Enterprise Institute has already returned over $200 million to class members in unfair class actions.

By going to the Supreme Court in Frank v Gaos, CEI is fighting to fix this problem and protect consumers from greedy attorneys who rip off class members.

For more on what the Center for Class Action Fairness is up to, see this recent profile of CCAF Director Ted Frank in The New York Times.