Unfair settlements generally serve self-interested lawyers and third parties at the expense of absent class members, the group of people whose rights are traded away to settle a class action. Lawyers have an interest in their fees, defendants have an interest in cheaply disposing of a lawsuit, and the class’ interests can take a back seat in the process. CCAF seeks to solve these problems by representing such class members pro bono and presenting judges with the other side of the argument. When CCAF prevails, lawyers get less, class members get more, and the rule of law is strengthened.
The New York Times says CCAF’s Ted Frank is “the leading critic of abusive class action settlements,” while Reuters called him a “class action maverick” and “among class action lawyers’ most feared objectors.”
Featured Posts

Reason
Photos Show the Transformation of Great Britain
Not so long ago, Great Britain was deemed “the sick man of Europe.” The 1970s were plagued by inflation, labor union strikes, and a rise…

News Release
CEI Disappointed in Outcome of Supreme Court Decision in Class Action Settlement Case, Frank v. Gaos, but Hopeful for Future Resolution
In Frank v. Gaos, a class action-related case initiated by former CEI attorneys, the U.S. Supreme Court today decided to send the case back to…

News Release
CEI Congratulates Ted Frank and CCAF on the Launch of the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute
Since merging with CEI in 2015, the Center for Class Action Fairness (CCAF) has continued the mission Ted Frank began nearly a decade ago. CCAF has…
Search Posts
Blog
Victory in HP Inkjet
A 2-1 decision of the Ninth Circuit agreed with us that the district court incorrectly applied the coupon-valuation provision of the Class Action Fairness Act…
Courthouse News
Lawyers Lose $2M Award for HP Inkjet Settlement
Courthouse News reports on Ted Frank's work to object to settlements that break the Class Action Fairness Act. While two members of the…
Law 360
$1.5M Attys’ Fees Scuttle HP Printer Defect Deal In 9th Circ.
Law 360 reports on the Center for Class Action Fairness' victory in their objection to the Hewlett-Packard Co. settlement which benefited the plaintiffs' lawyers more…
Blog
Update in Apple MagSafe settlement Ninth Circuit appeal
CCAF filed an opening brief in October; after many delays in the briefing schedule, we filed our reply brief in April. Details at…
Blog
Southwest Drink Voucher objection
I’ve previously discussed the problems with the Southwest Drink Voucher coupon settlement, and CCAF attorney Melissa Holyoak is representing a class member objecting…
Blog
Fraley v. Facebook
Lots of class members forwarded me their notices in this settlement, which is likely to pay the class zero; if it pays anything, it will…
Online Media Daily
Watchdogs Ask Court to Reject ‘Sponsored Stories’ Settlement
Online Media Daily discusses the Center for Class Action Fairness' objection to the settlement deal in the Facebook privacy case. The law firm Center for…
The American Lawyer
Conscientious Objector
The American Lawyer writes a profile on Center for Class Action Fairness' Ted Frank and his efforts to fight for settlements that benefit class members.
Blog
Another victory for CCAF: Pecover v. EA Sports triples class payouts
You will recall that we objected to a class action settlement over EA Sports’s Madden games: as in our successful Baby Products objection,…
Blog
In today’s Wall Street Journal
Today’s Wall Street Journal covers one element of the fee dispute in Citigroup Securities. More discussion at Point of Law, together with links…
Blog
Victory in Bayer
As a result of our objection in the Bayer class action settlement, the parties modified the settlement to increase direct payments to the class…
Wall Street Journal
Dispute Arises Over Cost of Temp-Help Lawyers
The Wall Street Journal reports on Center for Class Action Fairness’s founder Ted Frank’s objection to fees in a Citigroup class action settlement. Attorneys…
Law 360
$100M Kirby McInerney Fee Bid In Citi Case Meets Skepticism
Law 360 reports on a case where Ted Frank objects to the plaintiffs' lawyers fees which overcharged the class members they represented. Tort…
Reuters
Judge weighs fairness of Citigroup’s $590 mln investor pact
Reuters reports on CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s founder Ted Frank’s objection to the fees in a Citigroup class action settlement. The judge…
Law 360
$590M Citi Settlement Draws Skepticism From Judge
Law 360 reports on a case where Ted Frank challenges a settlement in which the plaintiff's lawyers recieved a huge pay out and the class…
ABA Journal
Expert in Legal-Fee Fight Blasts ‘Make Believe’ Game Over Cost of Contract Lawyers to Do Doc Review
ABA Journal discusses how Ted Frank is challenging the pracitce of lawyers raising fees in class action cases. Ruane is working with attorney Theodore…
Blog
Texas appellate victory for CCAF
We won the case of Kazman v. Frontier Oil, knocking out 100% of the attorneys’ fees in a $0 shareholder derivative suit that made shareholders…
Blog
More on Citigroup Securities
I discuss continuing developments in the Citigroup Securities fee objection at Point of Law. Our objections (December, March) have attracted a lot…
Law 360
Kirby McInerney Defends $100M Fee Request In Citi Case
Law 360 reports on Frank’s objection to the fees in a Citigroup settlement in which the plaintiffs’ lawyers overcharged the class members they represented.
Forbes
Corporate Lawyers Scratch Their Heads Over Citi Class-Action Fees
Forbes reports on how Center for Class Action Fairness’s Ted Frank discovered the plaintiff’s lawyers, in a class action suit against Citigroup, charged exorbitant billing…
Law 360
Citigroup Fee Flap Strikes At Heart Of Class Action Model
Law 360 discusses Ted Frank's objections to the Citigroup settlement that paid attorneys huge fees for work done by contract lawyers. The most…
Law 360
In-House Attys Fire New Salvo In Battle Over Law Firm Fees
Law 360 reports on Ted Frank's objection to the Citigroup settlement in which lawyers over-billed the class members they represented. The objector, Ted…
Forbes
Judge Demands Contract-Attorney Records In Madoff Fund Fee Fight
Forbes quotes Ted Frank on the ethical issues behind the practice of plaintiffs' lawyers in class action suits charging large fees and billing hours that harm class members.
Legal Newsline
House Panel Examines ‘Litigation Abuses’
Legal Newsline reports on a House subcommittee hearing on litigation abuses and Ted Frank's witness on the problem of cy pres. Frank talked…
ABA Journal
Law Firm Billing Contract Lawyers at $1K Hourly Must Reveal What They Were Paid, Federal Judge Says
ABA Journal discusses Ted Frank's objections to the plaintiffs' lawyers' large request for legal fees for work that may have been done by contract attorneys.
Blog
Baby Products press coverage
Lots of people are talking about Baby Products, some of whom talked to me. [Fisher @ Forbes; Legal Intelligencer; Reuters;…
Blog
Why is Jaafar & Mahdi Law Group trying to squelch criticism of a bad class action settlement?
A class action accusing local McDonald’s in Dearborn County of falsely advertising its chicken as “halal” was settled. A class member, Majed Moughni, an attorney,…
Bloomberg News
Toy ‘R’ Us Antitrust Settlement Tossed Over $14 Million in Attorney Fees
Bloomberg News reports on Center for Class Action Fairness' objection to the Toys 'R" Us settlement that granted a lot of money to the attorney's,…
Wall Street Journal
Court Nixes $14 Million Lawyer-Fee Request
The Wall Street Journal reports on Ted Frank's victory in a case that he objected to the large class action settlement that mainly went to charities…
Blog
Third Circuit win
We won reversal of the settlement approval in the Baby Products Antitrust Litigation, No. 12-1165 (3d Cir. Feb. 19, 2013). The settlement…
Forbes
Court Rejects $14 Million Fee For Lawyers, $3 Million For Their Clients
Forbes details Center for Class Action Fairness' legal action against a class-action settlement which would have paid lawyers who negotiated it over four times as…
Bloomberg Business
Toys ‘R’ Us $35 Million Antitrust Accord Overturned
Bloomberg Business discusses the Center for Class Action Fairness' case In Re Baby Products Antitrust Litigation. Toys “R” Us Inc.’s $35 million settlement…
Blog
In re Bayer
Fewer than 20,000 class members have bothered to go through the arduous claim procedures in the Bayer Corp. class action, which caps recovery for most…
Blog
Wyeth and the multiplier
Class counsel in the City of Livonia Employees’ Retirement Sys. v. Wyeth case have a $3.9 million lodestar, but are seeking $16.5 million for a settlement…
Forbes
A Brief Explanation of the Economics of Secuirities Lawsuits
Forbes quotes Center for Class Action Fairness' Ted Frank on how securities lawsuits work. Frank represents an investor who objects to the $16.5…
Forbes
Citigroup Plaintiff Lawyers Fire Back At Fee Objectors
Forbes reports on efforts by the Center for Class Action Fairness to dispute excessive fees sought by lawyers in a class action settlement with Citigroup.
Blog
CCAF in the news
Wednesday, I argued the case of Kazman v. Frontier Oil in Houston, which raises the issue of whether Texas law permits the “deal tax”:…
West Virginia Record
Class action crusader says ‘floc’ settlement unfair
The West Virginia Record reports on Ted Frank's efforts to challenge an unjust settlement in which the attorneys proposed to get more money than the class members.
Blog
Southwest Airlines drink voucher coupon settlement
Southwest gives away “premium drink” (i.e., “beer”) coupons worth $5 to customers who buy a Business Select ticket. Of course, not everyone drinks, and half…
Blog
Pearce v. Acosta
A class member contacted me to complain about the settlement in Pearce v. Acosta. At first glance, it seems troubling: as described to me, the…
Bloomberg Business
Duane Morris, Troutman Sanders, Munger: Business of Law
Bloomberg reports on the case In re Citigroup Inc. Securities Litigation, in which Center for Class Action Fairness objected to the settlement which would grant…
Forbes
Class-Action Firms Capitalize On Wretched Market For Law-School Grads
Forbes mentions Ted Frank's objections to the marked up fee requests from lawyers who worked on the Citigroup class action lawsuit. Class-action activist…
Blog
Other December doings
In addition to the objection to the Citigroup Securities settlement, we were busy in December: Another bad coupon settlement: …
ABA Journal
Does Legal Fees Motion in $590M Citigroup Case Include $1K Per Hour for Low-Paid Contract Lawyers?
ABA Journal reports on Ted Frank's objections to the lawyers' marked up fee claims in a class action lawsuit where most of the work was done by…
Blog
Southern District of New York assistance?
I’ve filed an objection in the Southern District of New York to an attorney-fee request that is excessive by tens of millions of dollars, and…
Forbes
Plaintiff Lawyers in Citigroup Case Seek Big Markup For Outside Attorneys
Forbe reports on Ted Frank's objection to the platiffs' lawyers' fee requests in the Citigroup class action case because it is clear that they marked…
Law 360
2nd Circ. Approves $180M Sirius XM Antitrust Settlement
Law 360 reports on the case in which CCAF represented class members who objected to the Sirius XM settlement. The subscribers claimed that…
Blog
Birthday wishes
Frank Bednarz, who was with CCAF in the early going, and has since moved on to more lucrative intellectual property litigation, wins the Internet…
Blog
October and November doings
In addition to our Supreme Court amicus and our MagSafe appellate brief, we’ve kept busy over the last two months. We…
Blog
Amicus brief in Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles
As I’ve previously written: The Class Action Fairness Act was intended to protect consumers against the unfair class action settlements rubber-stamped in state courts…