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
The Boston Globe
Thornton Law, others to pay $2m for probe of their bills
Boston Globe discusses a class action suit against State Street Bank and Trust But when Judge Wolf asked the lawyers, including those from…
Fox News
GOP wants to eliminate shadowy DOJ slush fund bankrolling leftist groups
Fox News discusses a Department of Justice slush fund with CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness founder Ted Frank. “The underlying problem with…
Wall Street Journal
Consumer Activists Decry Bill to Limit Class-Action Lawsuits
The Wall Street Journal discusses the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017 with CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s founder Ted Frank.
Wall Street Journal
Consumer Activists Decry Bill to Limit Class-Action Lawsuits
The Wall Street Journal discusses the Fairness in Class Action Litigation of 2017 with CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness founder Ted Frank.
Law360
High Court Won’t Hear Challenge To Class Action Atty Fees
The U.S. Supreme Court will not review a settlement dispute in a consumer class action suit against a fitness company, it said in a Tuesday…
Comment
Comments of the Center for Class Action Fairness to the Civil Rules Advisory Committee on Federal Rule Civil Procedure 23
View Full Document as PDF It is important to understand that, in practice, rules relating to class-action settlements will most often be…
Cook County Record
Attorney fees clipped, class awards tripled under new deal to end Southwest drink voucher class action
Cook County Record discusses, with Melissa Holyoak, CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s objection of a Southwest settlement. At that point, the Washington,…
Today's General Counsel
Judge Launches Investigation Into Law Firms’ Inflated Bills
Today’s General Counsel discusses the investigation into Thornton Law Firm’s billing practices “This is very serious,” Ted Frank, a lawyer at the Competitive Enterprise Institute…
Blog
Conair Class Action Settlement Sets Our Hair on Fire
If you bought a Conair Infiniti Pro hair dryer before August 31, 2016 in New York or California, then you are probably part of a…
Washington Times
Protecting consumers from swindlers: How ‘fake facts’ make millions for class-action lawyers
For the Washington Times, senior attorney Ted Frank writes: "... trial lawyers can dodge the courts that balk at alternative facts and instead file settlements…
Litigation
Adams v. USAA
The Center of Class Action Fairness (CCAF) was appointed as a special amicus curiae to defend the judgement of the U.S. District Court for the…
Forbes
Supreme Court Mulls Case That Would Trim Fees In Class Actions
Forbes writer Daniel Fisher discusses CEI’s Supreme Court petition in Blackman v. Gascho: Blackman v. Gascho reprepresents a split between…
Top Class Actions
Target Data Breach Settlement Sent Back to District Court for Revisions
Top Class Actions discusses CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’ objection in the Target data breach settlement: A federal appeals court has…
Blog
Attorney General and Trial Lawyer Collaboration Creates Revolting Blend
A new study documents unconstitutional collusion between state attorneys general and trial lawyers.
The Boston Globe
A federal judge is the latest to scrutinize Thornton Law
The Boston Globe discusses attorneys’ fees in class-action lawsuits with CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness founder Ted Frank. One expert on attorneys’…
Northern California Record
Lawsuit lives on after rejected Similasan settlement
Northern California Record discusses CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s objection of the Similasan settlement with Ted Frank. The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a…
Arkansas Business
8th Circuit Hears Forum Shopping Case Involving Goodson
Arkansas Business discusses the Center for Class Action Fairness’ case Adams v. USAA: The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments…
Legal NewsLine
Eighth Circuit reverses, remands $10 million settlement in Target data breach class action
Legal NewsLine discusses CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s important ruling in their objection to the Target data breach class action settlement. “Over…
Boston Globe
A federal judge is the latest to scrutinize Thornton Law
Boston Globe discusses the investigation into Thornton Law Firm’s billings practices One expert on attorneys’ fees in class-action lawsuits said Wolf’s call for…
Blog
Trump Not Bound by Obama Volkswagen Settlement with EPA
The judicial settlement which was reached between Volkswagen and the U.S. Department of Justice last October infringes on President Trump’s Article II authority.
ABC News
Court Orders Review of Target Security Breach Settlement
ABC News and the Associated Press report on CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s appeal of the Target data breach settlement. A Minnesota…
Bloomberg BNA
$17M Target Breach Deal Imperiled by Conflict Allegations
Bloomberg BNA discusses an important ruling in CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s objection to the Target data brea Objectors to the fairness…
Cook County Record
Attorney fees in Johnson & Johnson baby bath products settlement raise eyebrows but spur no action
Cook County Record discusses CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s objection to a Johnson & Johnson class action settlement. A class-action lawsuit against Johnson…
News Release
Center for Class Action Fairness Wins Big in Southwest Airlines Coupons Case, Triples Relief for Class Members
This week, parties in a years-long class action over Southwest Airlines “premium drink” coupons settled in a win for the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for…
News Release
Eighth Circuit Remands Target Data Breach Settlement
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) received an important ruling today in its appeal of the settlement regarding the much-publicized 2013 data breach at retail…
American Bar Association Journal
Foot Fight: Subway sandwich suit raises class action questions
The American Bar Association Journal discusses the Center for Class Action Fairness’ Subway Footlong settlement: But customers arguably are getting a less tangible…
Litigation
Saska v. Metropolitan Museum of Art
Class member and CCAF attorney Anna St. John objected to settlement approval, class certification, and the request for attorneys’ fees in Saska v. Metropolitan Museum…
News Release
CEI Objects to Metropolitan Museum of Art Class Action Settlement
$350,000 attorneys’ fees provide no relief to class…
News Release
CEI Files Reply Brief to Supreme Court in Challenge to Global Fitness Class Action Settlement
Today CEI submitted a reply brief to the Supreme Court in a case involving windfall fees for class action attorneys at the expense of the…
The National Law Review
Google Pays $5.5M To No One: Cy Pres Problems & Expert Cures
The National Law Review reports on CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s objection to a Google class action settlement. Class members claim Google…
Legal Brief
Amicus Curiae: Adams v. USAA
View Full Document as PDF Instead of protecting the interests of their clients, class counsel forum-shopped the case to a jurisdiction that was…
Litigation
Edwards v. National Milk Producers Federation, et al.
On behalf of class member Joshua Holyoak, CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness objected to class counsel’s excessive fee request in Edwards v. Milk. Under Ninth…
News Release
CEI Objects to Shareholder Suit Settlement, Invokes Walgreen Decision
On behalf of objector David G. Duggan, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Class Action Fairness is appealing the approval of the settlement of a…
Legal NewsLine
Public-interest firm calls $5.5 million settlement with Google over privacy settings ‘unacceptable’
Legal NewLine reports on CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s objection to an unfair Google class action settlement. A public-interest law firm that…
Top Class Actions
Google’s $5.5M Settlement Fails to Benefit Class Members, Objector Says
Top Class Actions reports on and objection to an unfair class action settlement from CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s founder, Ted Frank. Class…
JD Journal
Boston Globe Exposes Cost Inflating Class-Action Attorneys
JD Journal investigates Boston Globe’s exposer of class- action attorneys While critics of inflated billing exist, they still acknowledge that attorneys who take…
News Release
CEI Objects to Multi-Million Dollar Windfall for Attorneys in Volkswagen Class Action Litigation
This week, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s (CEI) Center for Class Action Fairness filed an objection to the massive attorneys’ fees and costs—$175 million—being…
Litigation
In re Google Inc. Cookie Placement Consumer Privacy Litigation
CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness is challenging the legality of a class action settlement with Google that provides millions of dollars to the attorneys, and…
News Release
CEI Objects to Unfair Settlement Deal in Google Privacy Case
The Center for Class Action Fairness at the Competitive Enterprise Institute objected to the settlement in the lawsuit In re Google Inc. Cookie Placement Consumer…
Arkansas Business
‘He Wasn’t Unkind, but He Was a Crook’ – Best Quotes of 2016
Arkansas Business lists a quote by Ted Frank as one of the best quotes of 2016. “The fact of the matter is that…
The Boston Globe
Critics hit law firms’ bills after class-action lawsuits
The Boston Globe discusses Thornton Law Firm’s legal fees in class-action lawsuits with CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s founder Ted Frank. Critics of…
Boston Globe
Critics hit law firms’ bills after class-action lawsuits
Boston Globe discusses the State Street Bank and Trust Lawsuit by the Thornton Law Firm Critics of the way lawyers are paid in…
Blog
Appeal Heard on ‘Hot Fuel’ Class Action Settlements
Last month, the Tenth Circuit heard argument in CEI’s appeal of the “Hot Fuel” settlements. This is the case where the plaintiffs sued most major…
Blog
Challenging Class Action Law’s ‘Professional Objectors’
Earlier this week the Center for Class Action Fairness filed a motion to intervene and seek disgorgement from for-profit “professional objectors” in the case of…
Wall Street Journal
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. …
Litigation
Williamson v. McAfee; Kirby v. McAfee
CCAF objected to the approval of a settlement that allocates a disproportionate share of the settlement proceeds to the attorneys and has all of the…
Litigation
Aron v. Crestwood Midstream Partners
On behalf of objector David G. Duggan, CCAF is appealing the approval of the settlement of a shareholder suit in which the plaintiffs’ attorneys received…
Bloomberg BNA
Costco, Others Disputing ‘Hot Gas’ Deals at 10th Cir.
Bloomnberg BNA discusses CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s objection to a settlement over the temperature of gasoline. The U.S. District Court for…
Blog
National Sandwich Day Sharpens Hunger for Subway Class Action Decision
It’s a good day to get a deal on a sandwich. It’s also a good day to take note of the case we’ve got pending,…
News Release
CEI Appeals Class Action Settlement Award to Political Groups in Citigroup Case
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) appealed a ruling in the Citigroup Inc. Securities Litigation on Wednesday that allows class action settlement funds to be distributed…
Blog
5 Scariest Halloween Regulations
Regulatory dark matter is a Washington boogeyman. In 2015, there were 39 regulations for every one law passed by Congress. That’s a lot of rules…
Legal NewsLine
State AGs ask U.S. SC to review lawyer payout in class action settlement
Legal NewsLine reports on CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's challenge to a class action settlement which over a dozen state attorneys general asked the Supreme…
Legal NewsLine
Federal judge approves $14.7 billion settlement in Volkswagen emissions class actions
Legal Newsline discusses Center for Class Action Fairness's reaction to the Volkswagen class action settlement ruling. The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Class…
Blog
Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” Settlement Prioritizes Attorneys’ Interests Over Harmed Consumers
Today the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California approved a settlement in the Volkswagen Clean Diesel MDL that puts the interests of…
Reuters
In approving VW deal, Judge Breyer dispatches with fee objections
Reuters reports on CEI's objection to the Volkswagen emissions settlement that was a bad deal for class members. The most provocative objection to…
News Release
Volkswagen Class Action Ruling: Bad Deal for Consumers
CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness is disappointed by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California’s approval today of the Volkswagen class action settlement because…
Cato At Liberty
Courts Should Stop Approving Unfair Class Action Settlements
Cato At Liberty discusses the issues in CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s case Blackman v. Gascho. Class actions play a vital role…
Bloomberg
VW Judge Says He ‘Strongly’ Favors $14.7 Billion Settlement
Bloomberg discusses Center for Class Action Fairness's objection to the Volkswagen emissions settlement with Anna St. John. Anna St. John, an attorney opposing the…
The Recorder
Final Approval Near in $14.7 Billion VW Emissions Accord, Judge Says
The Recorder reports on Center for Class Action Fairness's objection to the Volkswagen emissions settlement. More than a dozen objectors or their lawyers…
News Release
CEI Argues Volkswagen Settlement Provides Zero Benefits to Consumers
Today, Competitive Enterprise Institute Attorney Anna St. John argued the shortcomings of the Volkswagen class action settlement, a result of the 2015 emissions scandal,…
Reuters
Class counsel in VW clean diesel case: Without us, no government deal
Reuters speaks with Ted Frank on CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's objection to the Volkswagen emissions settlement. The class settlement, which would…
Bloomberg BNA
Not Everyone is Happy with the $14.7 Billion Volkswagen Settlement
Bloomberg BNA reports on CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's objection to the Volkswagen emissions settlement. In August, the attorneys who represented the…
Bloomberg Law
Not Everyone is a Fan of the $14.7 Billion VW Settlement
Bloomberg Law reports on the Volkswagen emissions settlement and CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's objection to the settlement. A proposed $14.7 billion…
Talk Media News
57 illegal aliens nabbed at Texas stash house, Improbable crime rate study
Talk Media News reports on CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's objection a proposed class action settlement from the Volkswagen emisisons scandal. The…
The Daily Caller
Think Tank Claims Attorneys Bilked VW Claimants Out Of Hundreds Of Millions
The Daily Caller reports on CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's objection to the Volkswagen emissions settlement. Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed an…
News Release
CEI Seeks Supreme Court Review of Unfair Lawyer Payout in Global Fitness Class Action Settlement
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a challenge to a lopsided class action settlement agreement that leaves…
Reuters
In objection to $14 billion VW deal, Ted Frank claims class lawyers breached duty
Reuters reports on CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's objection to the proposed Volkswagen emissions settlement. Reporter Alison Frankel calls CCAF's Ted Frank a "class…
E&E News
Conservative group says settlement shortchanges consumers
E&E News reports on CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's objection to the proposed class-action settlement over the Volkswagen emissions scandal. In a…
Los Angeles Times
If a law has a first name, that’s a bad sign
Donald Trump claims to be running for president as an outsider. But his campaign has resorted to one of the oldest tricks in the book…
Bloomberg BNA
Should Late Shopping of Class Settlements Draw Sanctions?
Bloomberg BNA reports on CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's involvement in an insurance class action settlement. Attorneys for both sides have appealed…
News Release
CEI Objects to Abusive Volkswagen Settlement at Center of Emissions Scandal
On Friday evening, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s (CEI) Center for Class Action Fairness asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California…
Legal Brief
Amicus Brief: In Re Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation
Full Document Available in PDF The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Class Action Fairness filed an amicus brief before the U.S. District Court…
Litigation
Volkswagen ʺClean Dieselʺ Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation
On September 16, 2016, CEI filed an objection on behalf of a class member to the proposed settlement in In re Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” Marketing, Sales Practices,…
Real Clear Policy
Footlong Subs and Other Frivolous Lawsuits
You may have heard about the attorney who sued his dry cleaner for $67 million for losing his pants, or the movie-goer who…
Forbes
Banner Ads Are A Joke In The Real World, But Not In Class-Action Land
Forbes discusses lawyers' use of questionable Internet marketing techniques to get notice of class-action settlements out to clients with Ted Frank. “Everybody knows these notice schemes…
Reuters
Subway ‘Footlong’ settlement gets appeals court grilling
Reuters reports on CEI's Center for Class Action Fariness's hearing in their objection to the Subway "footlong" settlement. A federal appeals court on Thursday…
Legal Tribune Online
Anwalt geht gegen Vergleich im Subway-Prozess vor
CEI's Center for Class Action Director Ted Frank was cited by a German legal magazine regarding Frank's objection to a class action settlement involving Subway’s…
Consumerist
Judges In Subway “Foot-Long Fraud” Appeal Ask Why Case Wasn’t Thrown Out Long Ago
Consumerist discusses the Center for Class Action Fairness’ appeal in the Subway Footlong settlement: In February, noted class action critic — and Subway…
Wall Street Journal
Subway ‘Footlong’ Case Goes Before Federal Appeals Court
The Wall Street Journal reports on CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's hearing in their objection to a Subway class-action settlement. The recent controversy…
News Release
Customer Appeals Fat Reward for Lawyers in Subway Footlong Settlement
The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Class Action Fairness today argued in court against a class action settlement involving Subway’s “footlong” sandwiches. The settlement awards…
Daily Caller
Study: Recent Labor Regulations Slowly Coming Into Focus, And It Doesn’t Look Good For Small Business
The Daily Caller highlights Iain Murray's report on the chaning nature of work and labor regulations that threaten worker flexibility. Government regulators are “imposing…
News Release
$2.3 Million Returns to Class Members after CEI Opposes Cy Pres Distribution in Wal-Mart Online DVD Settlement
The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Class Action Fairness won a victory for consumers when a court in the Northern District of California entered…
Blog
Settlement Insurance Shows Need for Court Skepticism in Class Actions
A plaintiffs’ attorney and an insurance executive have created a business, Risk Settlements, that offers a “post-lawsuit settlement insurance product specifically designed to manage settlement…
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Class-suit watchdog seeks role in appeal
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette discusses CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's challenge of an unfair class action settlement with Ted Frank. A Washington lawyer known for attacking…
Reuters
Plaintiffs drop proposed Pepco disclosure-only settlement after objector surfaces
Reuters reports on CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's objection of a Pepco Settlement and discusses the case with CEI lawyer Anna St. John. …
Reuters
Plaintiffs drop proposed Pepco disclosure-only settlement after objector surfaces
Reuters reports on CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's objection of a Pepco Settlement and discusses the case with CEI lawyer Anna St. John. …
New Jersey Civil Justice Institute
Court Cracks Down On Attorneys Lining Their Pockets Under the Guise of Protecting the Little Guy
New Jersey Civil Justice Institute discusses with Ted Frank the recent Center for Class Action Fairness's victory in their objection to a proposed settlement.
Bloomberg BNA
Disclosure-Only Settlement Over Walgreens Boots Deal Nixed
Bloomberg BNA reports on CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's win in their objection against a settlement that granted huge attorneys fees but left class…
Legal Newsline
Federal court rejects proposed class action settlement in Similasan case
Legal Newsline reports on CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s objection to the Similasan class action settlement. To fight the settlement, Arizona, Texas…
Wall Street Journal
Posner vs. the Plaintiffs Bar
One of life’s more bracing experiences is being on the receiving end of an opinion by federal Judge Richard Posner, and this week it couldn’t…
News-Gazette
Appellate Judge Sends Lawyers’ Windfall up in Smoke
The News-Gazette covers CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’ Walgreens case: It’s a textbook example of a legal shakedown conducted by lawyers who…
Blog
Landmark Ruling for Shareholders in Walgreens Class Action Lawsuit
Just weeks before the shareholder vote on Walgreens’ $4.8 billion merger with a European pharmacy, Walgreens got slapped with a class action lawsuit claiming that…
News Release
CEI Settlement Objection Prevails in Similasan Corp. Case
The U.S. District Court of the Southern District of California rejected a settlement in Allen v. Similasan, keeping class attorneys from a $545,000 payday while…
Legal NewsLine
Calif. federal court rejects settlement in class action over company’s homeopathic products
Legal NewsLine reports on CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s objection to the Similasan class action settlement. The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a non-profit…
Reuters
Judge in $590 mln Citigroup accord says ‘next best’ not needed for cy pres
Reuters Legal reports on a judge's ruling in CEI's Center for Class Action Fairness's objection of an unfair class action settlement with Ted Frank. …
News Release
CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness Wins Fight Against Worthless Settlement Deal in Walgreen-Boots Merger
Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Class Action Fairness won its challenge to a class action settlement deal related to the merger between Walgreens…
Cook County Record
Seventh Circuit: Walgreens, Shareholder Settlement Little More than $370K Payday for Lawyers
The Cook County Record discusses CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’ case in the Walgreens Co. Stockholder Litigation: In the proposed settlement to…
Law360
3 Nonprofits Can Get $590M Citigroup Deal Leftovers
Law360 discusses the Center for Class Action Fairness’ Citigroup case: A New York federal judge on Tuesday affirmed his previous decision that the…
Law.com
Advocates Take Shots at VW Emissions Accord
Law.com reports on CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness’s critique of the Volkswagen emissions settlement which CEI’s William Yeatman also discusses. In one…
Blog
A Tale of Two Settlements: The Virtue of Being Adversarial in Class Action Lawsuits
Ascena is the corporate owner of the Justice brand clothing franchise, which caters to pre-adolescent girls in 900 stores throughout the country. (If you’ve ever…