CEI’s Center for Class Action Fairness (CCAF) represents class members against unfair class action procedures and settlements. Originally founded by Ted Frank in 2009, CCAF has won millions of dollars for consumers and shareholders, and won landmark precedents that safeguard investors, courts, and the general public.

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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Litigation

Johnson & Johnson Derivative Litigation

  • No. 10-cv-2033, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 167066 (D.N.J. Nov. 25, 2013)
  • Court Level: District

The Center objected to a settlement that paid the class $0, established meaningless corporate governance changes, and paid the attorneys over $10 million: the court…

Class Action Fairness

Litigation

City of Livonia Employees Ret. Sys. v. Wyeth

  • No. 1:07-cv-10329 (RJS), 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113658 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 7, 2013)
  • Court Level: District

The Center represented a shareholder objecting to a securities class action wherein the $16.5M plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fee request was 4.2 times their normal billing rate.

Class Action Fairness

Litigation

Richardson v. L’Oreal USA

  • 991 F. Supp. 2d 181, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158599 (D.D.C. Nov. 6, 2013)
  • Court Level: District

The district court sustained the Center’s objection to a settlement over shampoo labeling where the class would receive valueless injunctive relief and the attorneys sought…

Class Action Fairness

Litigation

Magsafe Apple Power Adapter Litigation

  • 571 Fed. Appx. 560 (9th Cir. Apr. 24, 2014) (unpublished)
  • Court Level: District

In this settlement over Apple power adapters, the district court failed to appraise class relief compared to the $3M that the settlement awarded to plaintiffs’…

Class Action Fairness

Litigation

Redman v. RadioShack Corp.

  • 768 F.3d 622 (7th Cir. 2014)
  • Court Level: Appellate

Plaintiffs sought statutory damages for RadioShack’s practice of printing expiration dates on credit card receipts. CCAF objected to a settlement that paid $1 million to…

Class Action Fairness

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