Judge Questions Coupon Settlement in Honda Class Action

The Wall Street Journal reports on Ted Frank's objection to the Honda settlement which gave lawyers millions and class members small coupons.

The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 took several steps to, in the eyes of Congress, make the class-action system more fair. Among the things, the act provided that coupon settlements — those much criticized settlements in which plaintiffs’ lawyers walk away with millions while the class members get coupons — receive heightened scrutiny.

“In this case, it was essentially a marketing incentive program for Honda,” said Ted Frank, founder of the Center for Class Action Fairness in Washington, who filed an objection on behalf of a class member. The attorneys general of a number of states said in an amicus brief that the proposed deal didn’t meet the “heightened scrutiny” for coupon settlements.

Read the full article at the Wall Street Journal.