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
Comment
CEI Comments on the Proposed Regulation on Digital Discrimination of Access
Introduction. On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we respectfully submit the following comments in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) notice of…
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…
Northern California Record
Appeals Court Returns Class Action To Lower Court After Only $225,000 Paid Out To Class Members, But $12M Awarded To Attorneys And Third-Party Universities
Northern California Record cited CEI’s Attorney Adam Schulman on Ninth Circuit Frank v. Gaos decision. In its decision based on the objection by…
Reuters
Justices Revisit Spokeo Standing At Oral Arguments Over Cy Pres Settlements
Reuters cited CEI’s Senior Attorney Ted Frank on Supreme Court case Frank v. Gaos. (Reuters) – A funny thing happened on the way…
Bloomberg News
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…
News Release
Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Unfair Class Action Settlement that Gives Millions to Attorneys, Zero Dollars to Class Members
Today the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a landmark case brought by the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s (CEI) Center for Class Action Fairness (CCAF) challenging…
Blog
Q&A on Frank v. Gaos, Class Action Lawsuit Headed to Supreme Court
Q: What is the main question at issue in Frank v. Gaos? A: The Supreme Court will consider whether a class action settlement is fair under…
Law360
Disputers Of Google Privacy Deal Cite 9th Circ. Award Ruling
Law360 cited CEI Senior Attorneys Ted Frank and Melissa Holyoak on Frank v. Gaos. “Challengers to Google’s $8.5 million privacy settlement, the fairness…
News Release
CEI Files Brief with Supreme Court Arguing Ninth Circuit’s EasySaver Decision Underscores Need for Proposed Cy Pres Standard
Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed a supplemental brief with the Supreme Court, arguing the Ninth Circuit’s decision in the EasySaver case earlier this…
News Release
New Video Explains How CEI Is Fighting for Consumers Against Attorney Greed at Supreme Court
Washington, D.C.—In a new video released today by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), Senior Attorney Melissa Holyoak explains how greedy trial attorneys are corrupting our legal system…
Blog
Frank v. Gaos: Fighting to Protect Consumers from Greedy Attorneys
Our class action legal team here at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Center for Class Action Fairness, has a new video explainer on their…
Blog
U.S. Government Weighs in on ‘Cy Pres’ Abuse in Frank v. Gaos
On October 31, 2018, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Frank v. Gaos. The petitioners are class members challenging a class action…
Citation
AUDIO: Ted Frank Discusses Class Action Lawsuits on Lawsuit Watch
Director of Litigation and Senior Attorney Ted Frank discussed class action lawsuits on Lawsuit Watch, hosted by Curt Schroder.
News Release
CEI Wins Attorney Fee Challenge After Ninth Circuit Rules EasySaver Settlement Violated CAFA
In a victory for class action fairness, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated $8.7 million in fees for plaintiffs’ attorneys in Re: EasySaver Rewards…
Law360
7th Circ. Has Chance To Cut Off ‘Mootness Fee’ Merger Cases
Law360 cited director of litigation for CCAF Ted Frank on the Akron merger. In what’s believed to be the first time a federal…
News Release
CEI Challenges Frivolous Suit Paying Attorneys over $300,000 but Leaving Class members with $0
Yesterday, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Class Action Fairness (CCAF) filed its opening brief in Alcarez v. Akorn, Inc., et al. CCAF is challenging…
Blog
Kavanaugh’s View of Judicial Power: Could It Be Tested at Supreme Court in Frank v. Gaos?
Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing is slated to begin Tuesday, September 4, at 9:30 a.m. before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It is safe to…
Citation
Get Ready for a Frank Oral Argument
The National Law Journal cited director of litigation and the director of the Center for Class Action Fairness at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Ted Frank, in its…
Law.com
Critical Mass: Roundup Trial Goes to Jury | New Expert Standard in New Jersey | 7th Circuit Fee Focus
Law.com cited CCAF and Senior Attorney Melissa Holyoak on 7th circuit decisions regarding the Roundup trial. Since Richard Posner abruptly retired last year, the U.S. Court of…
News Release
CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness Appeals Unfair Disclosure-Only Settlement in Pharmacyclics-AbbVie Merger
The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Class Action Fairness filed the opening brief in an appeal of a “disclosure-only settlement” stemming from the 2015 merger…
Marketplace
AUDIO: Iain Murray Discusses EU Regulators Fining Google on Marketplace
Iain Murray, Vice President for Strategy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, joined Marketplace to discuss the European Commission’s fine of Google.
Law360
State AGs, ABA Press High Court Over Google Privacy Deal
Law360 cited CEI’s Ted Frank and Melissa Holyoak on the Supreme Court privacy settlement with Google. Petitioners Theodore H. Frank and Melissa Ann Holyoak…
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly
Special Master Tells Class Counsel to Clean Up their Act
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly cited CEI and Ted Frank on the class action case Arkansas Teachers Retirement System v. State Street Bank & Trust Co.
Law360
Google Privacy Deal Is ‘Clear Abuse,’ High Court Told
Law360 covers CEI’s Supreme Court case Frank v. Gaos. CEI Director of Litigation Ted Frank will be arguing the case before the court and representing himself,…
Mealy's
Google Privacy Class Objectors Tell High Court Cy Pres-Only Settlement is Unfair
Mealy’s covers CEI’s Supreme Court case Frank v. Gaos. CEI Director of Litigation Ted Frank will be arguing the case before the court and representing…
Westlaw
‘Fool for a client’? Ted Frank Goes Pro Se at SCOTUS to Pan Cy Pres Settlements
Westlaw covers CEI’s Supreme Court case Frank v. Gaos. CEI Director of Litigation Ted Frank will be arguing the case before the court and representing…
News Release
CEI Files Supreme Court Brief in Case Challenging Abuse of Class Action System
Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed its opening brief in Frank v. Gaos, a case before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging a class action settlement that provided…
News Release
CEI Wins Appeal, Heads Back to Court to Challenge Bad-Faith Objectors in Pearson Class Action
Today, the Seventh Circuit overturned the district court’s decision that prevented CEI from challenging the bad-faith objectors. The court agreed that courts must ensure that class…
News Release
CEI Objection Wins Nearly $100 million for Class Members in Petrobras Settlement
This week, Judge Jed Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York agreed with the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s (CEI) objection…
Reuters
State Street Class Action Fee Probe Enmeshes Pension Fund Official
Reuters cited Ted Frank on the implications of the State Street class action case. In an ominous order on Friday, U.S. District Judge…
Bloomberg Law
$3B Petrobras Deal Has Conflicts, Excessive Fees: Objector
Bloomberg Law cited the CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness objection to an unfair settlement and an excessive attorneys’ fees request in In re Petrobras Securities…
Law360
Google Privacy Case To Test Limits Of Novel Settlements
Law360 cited CEI attorney Anna St. John and Director of Litigation Ted Frank after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear CEI’s case, Frank v.
The National Law Journal
Anthem Data Breach Attorney Fees Report Faulted by Plaintiffs Lawyers and Objector
The National Law Journal cited Ted Frank’s objections to the special master report that was supposed to analyze the attorneys’ billing practices and class action settlement resulting from the…
Litigation
Frank v. Gaos
On October 31, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the case Frank v. Gaos. On appeal from the Ninth Circuit, this case…
News Release
CEI Objects to Unfair Petrobras Settlement that Groups U.S. and Foreign Purchasers Together, Attorneys Overbill Class by $100M
Yesterday evening, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s (CEI) Center for Class Action Fairness objected on behalf of a class member to an unfair settlement and an excessive attorneys’…
Litigation
In re Petrobras Securities Litigation
In this class action plaintiffs alleged violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933 arising from allegedly material misstatements…
Legal Newsline
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Objection of $8.5M Google Settlement; Class Members Get Nothing, Funds Sent to Lawyers’ Alma Maters
Legal Newsline quoted Melissa Holyoak on cy pres abuse in class action settlements. WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – Petitioners opposing Google’s settlement of a…
JD Supra
Supreme Court to Decide Permissibility of Cy Pres Awards in Class Action Settlements
JD Supra cited Ted Frank on his objection towards the cy pres-only settlement approved by the Supreme Court. In exchange, Google created an…
Reuters
U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Google Privacy Settlement Dispute
Reuters discusses Frank v. Gaos, our case before the Supreme Court that could impact cy pres settlements. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed…
The Wall Street Journal
Supreme Court Will Take a Closer Look at Class Actions
The Wall Street Journal examines cases granted cert before the Supreme Court, including our case examining cy pres settlements, Frank v. Gaos. The…
Los Angeles Times
Supreme Court to Decide on Reining in Class-Action Deals that Only Pay Lawyers and their Favored Institutions
The Los Angeles Times reviews Frank v. Gaos, CEI’s Supreme Court case that examines cy pres settlements. The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider reining in…
The Washington Post
‘Cy Pres’ Settlement Review
The Washington Post reviews the cases granted cert by the Supreme Court, including Frank v. Gaos in which the court will examine cy pres settlements:…
Bloomberg Law
Class Settlement Flaw Exposed in Case Over Smart Phone Batteries
Bloomberg Law discusses our ninth-circuit appeal in the lithium ion antitrust litigation: A possible vehicle for federal courts to revisit the inconsistent treatment…
Bloomberg Law
DOJ Interest in Wine, Opioids Casts Shadow Over Class Suits
Bloomberg Law discusses how government scrutiny could lead to tighter class action settlements: But Edelson, who readily describes himself as being a contrarian…
Bloomberg Law
DOJ’s Mixed Result in Class Case Still a Win for Business
Bloomberg Law profiles our objection to the Wines Till Sold Out settlement; The department’s arguments against the settlement—which offered high attorneys fees for…
Legal Newsline
State AGs, DOJ oppose controversial Wine ‘Til Sold Out settlement
Legal Newsline profiles the Center for Class Action Fariness’ objection in the Wines Till Sold Out class action litigation The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s…
News Release
Supreme Court Grants Cert for CEI in Google Privacy Case Frank v. Gaos
CEI Director of Litigation and petitioner Ted Frank said, "We are hopeful that the Supreme Court’s review will result in a standard forbidding attorneys from misusing…
News Release
CEI Objects to Bank of America Class Action Settlement
The Competitive Enterprise Institute objected on behalf of a class member in Farrell v. Bank of America, a class action in which plaintiffs’ counsel sought attorneys’…