{"id":15850,"date":"2013-08-14T17:29:46","date_gmt":"2013-08-14T21:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=15850"},"modified":"2013-08-14T17:39:13","modified_gmt":"2013-08-14T21:39:13","slug":"class-action-lawsuits-i-learn-a-new-term-cy-pres","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=15850","title":{"rendered":"Class action lawsuits: I learn a new term, “cy pres.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to the New York Times’s superb Supreme Court journalist, Adam Liptak, I learned, as he entitled it in yesterday’s Sidebar pieces, “When Lawyers Cut Their Class-Action Clients Out of the Deal.”<\/a><\/p>\n

I had no idea this sort of thing happens. And it has a name, a French name: “cy pres,” which, as Liptak writes, “…is derived from a French legal expression, ‘cy pres comme possible,’ or ‘as near as possible.'” (I suspect it’s a medieval legal French expression for “screw you.”)<\/p>\n

Here’s how this stunningly irritating piece of news begins:<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 \u201cWe always knew this settlement would get a tremendous amount of attention,\u201d Scott A. Kamber<\/a> told the federal appeals court<\/a> in San Francisco a couple of years ago.<\/em><\/p>\n

He was defending a novel bargain he had struck with Facebook<\/a> on behalf of millions of users whose privacy he said the company had violated. The settlement\u2019s central innovation was to cut Mr. Kamber\u2019s clients out of the deal.<\/em><\/p>\n

The class members would get nothing. The plaintiffs\u2019 lawyers would get about $2.3 million. Facebook would make a roughly $6.5 million payment \u2014 to a new foundation it would partly control.<\/em><\/p>\n

The appeals court upheld the settlement<\/a> last year by a 2-to-1 vote, with the majority saying it was \u201cfair, adequate and free from collusion.\u201d Last month, critics of the settlement asked the Supreme Court<\/a> to hear the case.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Facebook settlement certainly explores new frontiers in class-action creativity…<\/em><\/p>\n

Yep, it sure does. (That’s medieval American, btw.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to the New York Times’s superb Supreme Court journalist, Adam Liptak, I learned, as he entitled it in yesterday’s Sidebar pieces, “When Lawyers Cut Their Class-Action Clients Out of the Deal.” I had no idea this sort of thing … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[42,32,30],"class_list":["post-15850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-news","tag-class-action-lawsuits","tag-how-lawyers-drive-clients-crazy","tag-lawyers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t