High Court Could Shoot Down Google Settlement On Standing
Bloomberg News cited CEI’s Senior Attorney Ted Frank on Supreme Court case Frank v. Gaos.
Ted Frank, who brought the case before the court, did get to make a few points about why he thinks use of cy pres creates problems in class settlements.
In the Google settlement, all of the money went to cy pres. But cy pres is often used as a last resort to deal with money left over in a settlement fund after class member payouts have been made.
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Even that “creates perverse incentives for class counsel to divert money away from their clients and to third parties,” he said.
“When courts have insisted that attorneys don’t get paid unless their clients get paid, the attorneys find a way to improve the claims process and make money get to the class,” Frank said. “You can’t reward class counsel for it.”
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Ted Frank of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Class Action Fairness in Washington argued on his own behalf. Jeffrey B. Wall of the U.S. Department of Justice argued for the government.