Another reason for lawyers to feel stressed: Greensboro-based business court judge Ben Tennille criticizes a settlement that awarded attorneys $950,000 in fees while their clients got a total of just $2,402, saying, "The shocking incongruity between class benefit and the fees ... leave the appearance of collusion and cannot help but to tarnish the public perception of the legal profession."
The class-action suit against Sears, which was accused of overcharging customers for wheel alignments, was settled in Illinois. (Thanks to alert reader JS for the tip).
My favorite settlement was a few years ago when the class action settlement with Cuisnart (or VegaMatic, or some other product like that) got all members of the class a $20 discount on a new product (that costs $70), while the lawyers got $500,000 in cash. The settelment allowed class memebrs to write to the judge with any comments on the legal fees. I wrote the judge that if the coupons were so valuable, the lawyers should have been paid their $500,000 fee in product discount coupons. I threw my coupon in the trash when I got it.
Posted by: Gerry | Jul 25, 2007 at 02:58 PM