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.”
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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…
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Blog
Opening brief in Ninth Circuit MagSafe appeal
In the In re Apple MagSafe Power Adapter Litigation, the attorneys walked away with $3.1 million, while the class got less than $1 million, and…
Blog
September doings
Groupon settlement rejected on cy pres grounds last week after our objection. The attorneys would have received $2.125 million, the class maybe a twentieth of that.
Forbes
Easterbrook Strikes Again, Slamming Flimsy Derivative Suit
Forbes reports on Ted Frank's victory in another objection to a settlement which benefited the plaintiff's attorney's to the detriment of their clients.
Blog
In re Johnson & Johnson Shareholder Derivative Litigation
Alison Frankel recently asked whether it’s the end of “money-for-nothing” class actions; Ronald Barusch asks a similar question. The Center for Class Action…
Forbes
Lawyer Fights $10 Million Fee For “Cosmetic” Johnson And Johnson Settlement
Forbes reports on Ted Frank's objection to Johnson & Johnson's settlement that will benefit the plaintiff's lawyers much more than the class members.
Forbes
Facebook Allies Accused Of Profiting From Suits Against It
Forbes mentions Ted Frank's consideration of objecting to a settlement that paid attorneys a much larger amount than the class members. Ted Frank…
Overlawyered
Victories for Ted Frank’s Center for Class Action Fairness
Overlawyered discusses Ted Frank's victory in the objection to the Sears shareholder settlement. Ted’s successful 7th Circuit objection in June in a Sears…
Blog
Two July 31 wins for the Center
On July 31, district courts substantially reduced attorney fees in two class action settlements where Center for Class Action Fairness attorneys objected. In the…
Law 360
Netflix Subscriber Fights $27M Wal-Mart Antitrust Deal
Law 360 reports on Ted Frank challenging the Netflix-Wal-Mart settlement that did not benefit class members. Theodore H. Frank, a Netflix subscriber and…
Blog
In re Online DVD Rental Antitrust Litigation
The Class Action Fairness Act puts limitations on coupon settlements. In In re Online DVD Rental Antitrust Litigation, however, the district court approved a…
Blog
Groupon Marketing class action settlement
There was a lot of publicity about the “$8.5 million” Groupon will pay to settle a class action over expiration dates; several class members complained…
Fortune
Google and Facebook’s new tactic in the tech wars
Fortune discusses the problem with cy pres awards and references Ted Frank for more details. The key recurring concern with any class action…
Blog
In re Baby Products update
Briefing is complete, and oral argument will be some time in the second half of September. Details at Point of Law.
Blog
Next steps
Over the years, we have gotten lots of inquiries about objecting to bad shareholder derivative settlements. We’d largely passed, because we had high hopes for…
Blog
Victory in the W.D. Washington: Classmates.com
When attorneys affiliated with CCAF first objected on behalf of Professor Michael Krauss in the Classmates.com settlement, that case paid $52,000 to class members and over…
Blog
Victory in the Seventh Circuit
As both Daniel Fisher and the Economist documented recently, the percentage of M&A transactions worth over $500 million that result in shareholder derivative suits has…
ABA Journal
7th Circuit Nixes ‘Feeble’ Sears Class Action, Says Its ‘Only Goal’ Is Fees for Plaintiffs Lawyers
ABA Journal reports on Ted Frank's victory in a case challenging the settlement set to pay most of the money to attorney's rather than the…
Blog
Victory in Dewey v. Volkswagen!
WASHINGTON, DC – The Center for Class Action Fairness LLC announced today its victory in the U.S. Court…
Blog
May update
A disappointing loss in Cobell v. Salazar, the first time I lost a federal appeal I’ve argued. We’re still evaluating our options.
Forbes
Court Rejects Volkswagen Settlement That Gave Lawyers $9 Million, Owners Letters
Forbes discusses Ted Frank's victory when the court sided with him and overturned the Volkswagen settlement because the lawyers created a conflict of interest between…
Tuscon Sentinel
Lawyers Weigh Appeal After $3.4 Billion Tribal Lands Settlement
Tuscon Sentinel reports on Ted Frank's work to appeal an unfair settlement for claims by Native Americans who entrusted property to the government.
Bloomberg Business
$3.4 Billion Indian Land Royalty Settlement Upheld
Bloomberg reports on the class action settlement objection which argued that some beneficiaries would be overpaid while others would be left undercompensated for their claims that…
Legal Times
D.C. Circuit Upholds $3.4B Native American Class Settlement
Legal Times reports on Ted Frank's objection to a settlement that was not distributed fairly to the class members, especially those who were injured the…
United Press International
Settlement in Netflix/Walmart suit slammed
United Press International reports on the case in which a Netflix and Walmart settlement granted lawyers huge payments and class members less than a dollar each.
Fierce Online
Netflix subscribers decry $27M class action settlement
Fierce Online reports on Ted Frank's objection to a Netflix and Wal-Mart settlement that would benefit the attorneys more than the class members and distribute…
Blog
Cy pres in the First and Third Circuits
On Tuesday, the First Circuit issued a landmark decision on cy pres, In re Lupron Marketing. Though odd litigation decisions by the objectors led…
Law 360
Sirius XM Shareholders Seek To Nix $180M Settlement
Law 360 reports on the case in which CCAF represented appellants to the Sirius XM settlement. Two Sirius XM Radio Inc. shareholders filed…
Blog
March updates
If you listen to one oral argument from March 27, well, I have to say that you need to listen to Paul Clement’s performance in…
Blog
Deposition fun in the Bluetooth case
It had been a few years since I took a deposition, so it was refreshing to see that I wasn’t as rusty as I was…
Blog
Two important appellate briefs filed this week
Shareholder derivative suits present interesting conflicts of interest. The suit is purportedly brought on behalf of shareholders, but when the case settles, the corporate defendant—i.e.,…
Blog
Mazie Slater misquotes a case
In Dewey v. Volkswagen, the parties negotiated and the district court approved a settlement that violates Supreme Court and Third Circuit precedent, which makes…
Blog
Apple Magsafe class action settlement objection
We’ve objected to the Apple Magsafe class action settlement, which was recently criticized by AtlanticWire. Details at Point of Law.
Indian Country
First Cobell Settlement Appeal Heard
Indian Country discusses the case in which Ted Frank represented an appeal of a settlement that was not fairly distributed and left some class members overpaid and…
Legal Times
D.C. Circuit Examines $3.4B Settlement In Native American Trust Case
Legal Times reports on the case in which Ted Frank represents Kimberly Craven who claims that a settlement was not fairly distributed. Theodore…
Law 360
$3.4B Tribal Land Settlement Faces Challenge In DC Circ.
Law 360 reports on a case CCAF objected to because the settlement would not be distributed fairly to class members. “Not every class…
Native American Times
Cobell Class Members question settlement, attorney conduct
Native American Times reports on Ted Frank's objection to a case that did not compensate class members fairly, because those who suffered the most get the…
Blog
Sixth Circuit brief in Pampers Dry Max class action
Details at Point of Law. Fortunately, Procter & Gamble is not my client, as they will be exceedingly unimpressed that we mortifyingly spelled their…
Law 360
Attys Got Lion’s Share Of HP Deal: Ink-Jet Class Members
Law 360 reports on CCAF's objection to the Hewlett-Packard Co. settlement that benefited the lawyers that negotiated it more than the class members they represented.
Blog
Ninth Circuit briefing in In re HP Inkjet complete
We filed our reply brief today. Opening brief Plaintiffs’ response brief HP response brief Reply brief See if you can spot…
Blog
Reply brief filed in Cobell v. Salazar
Today, we filed our reply brief in the Cobell v. Salazar appeal (No. 11-5205 (D.C. Cir.)). Oral argument is scheduled for February 16.
Insurance News Net
The Cure for the Common Coupon: Missouri Lawyers Weigh In On Class Action Concerns
Insurance News Net mentions the Center for Class Action Fairness and explains why Ted Frank started the nonprofit organization. That's where Frank comes in.
Blog
Festivus update
In the Toys “R” Us baby products antitrust case, the E.D. Pa. approved a settlement and fee request that pays $14M to attorneys and $8.1M…
Blog
mid-December update
Wednesday, we filed our Second Circuit brief in Blessing v. Sirius XM Radio, Inc. Appellees are filing response briefs in Cobell v. Salazar today.
Blog
Yes, the Ticketmaster class action settlement is appalling
Yes, we know about the Ticketmaster class action settlement, which over a dozen class members have emailed us about. There’s no question that this coupon…
Blog
Cobell v. Salazar Indian trust appeal of Kimberly Craven, No. 11-5205 (DC Circuit)
Kimberly Craven objection Craven Opposition to Final Approval (stricken by court) Fairness Hearing Transcript (pp. 70-82) No. 11-5205 Amended Statement of…
Blog
Wherein CCAF is “justly lauded”
More coverage of the AOL victory in a Washington Examiner op-ed. And Reuters Legal does a lengthy story. AOL’s attorney’s comment is…
Washington Examiner
Curbing Class-Action Suits That Benefit Lawyers, But Not Plaintiffs
The Washington Examiner discusses why Ted Frank objected to the AOL class action settlement. But then Ted Frank, who heads the justly lauded Center…
Blog
Some updates
Coverage of Monday’s Nachsin v. AOL cy pres victory for CCAF, some of which is even accurate. I was also interviewed by Reuters and…
Blog
Ninth Circuit cy pres victory in Nachshin v. AOL
We’ve been at the forefront of noting the problem of abusive cy pres; originally intended as a last resort “second-best” way to benefit the class…
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
Ninth Circuit Overturns Approval of AOL Class Action Settlement
Metropolitan News-Enterprise reports on why the Center for Class Action Fairness objected to the AOL class action settlement based on the cy pres distribution failing to…