Lawsuits Allege ‘Objector Blackmail’ in Class Action Litigation

The Wall Street Journal discusses with Ted Frank a motion filed by CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness in the case Pearson v. NBTY, Inc. 

The motion, filed Wednesday in Illinois federal court, was brought by Ted Frank, a litigator with the Competitive Enterprise Institute and himself a frequent objector to class-action settlements.

Mr. Frank, whose objections typically protest disproportionately high attorneys’ fees, is asking the court to disgorge any payments made to three objectors in the Target case whom he accuses of appealing the settlement for personal enrichment.

“Bad-faith” objectors are giving good-faith ones a bad name, his complaint says.

“[T]he cacophony created by shoddy objections brought by bad-faith objectors,” the lawsuit states,” interferes with a court’s ability to fairly consider the reasoned good-faith objections brought by the Center.”

Read the full article at The Wall Street Journal.