High Court Signals Rejection Of Settlement Snaggle
Courthouse News Service cited CEI’s Senior Attorney Ted Frank on Supreme Court case Frank v. Gaos.
Arguing before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Theodore Frank, an attorney with the Competitive Enterprise Institute who is challenging the award, told the justices it would not have been difficult to distribute the money among people who made claims. He said approval of the cy pres settlement deprived people of the chance to file a claim for their share of the settlement.
“How can it be fair and reasonable for a court to endorse such an abuse?” Frank asked.
Frank said cy pres settlements create “perverse incentives” for attorneys handling class actions to funnel settlement funds to their preferred causes instead of to members of the class they represent.