By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., Jennifer A. Riley, and Alex S. Oxyer
Seyfarth Synopsis: “Objector blackmail” occurs in the class settlement approval process when a few class members object to a proposed settlement and, after the district court has overruled their objections, pursue appeals with the goal of obtaining “side” settlement payments
By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., Thomas E. Ahlering and Alex. W. Karasik
Seyfarth Synopsis: Plaintiffs’ lawyers reached a landmark $550 million settlement in January 2020 in a lawsuit against Facebook by consumers in a class action brought under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (the “BIPA”) in the U.S. District Court for the
By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., Thomas E. Ahlering, and Alex S. Oxyer
Seyfarth Synopsis: On January 29, 2020, Facebook announced that it had reached a settlement with plaintiffs in a class action brought under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (the “BIPA”) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The
Seyfarth Synopsis: As measured by the top ten largest case resolutions in various workplace class action categories, overall settlement numbers increased slightly in 2019, but as compared to the last several years, it was one of the lowest overall yields for settlements after those values plummeted to their lowest level ever in 2018. After settlement
Seyfarth Synopsis: Of the five major class action developments in 2018, the decline in class action settlement numbers may have been most the striking shift. In fact, when compared to the 2017 numbers, the value of the top class action settlements in 2018 decreased by over $1 billion. In today’s blog, our readers can see
By: Gerald L. Maatman, Jr., Julie G. Yap, and Phillip J. Ebsworth
Seyfarth Synopsis: On January 18, 2019, in Porath v. Logitech, Case No. 18-CV-3091 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 18, 2019), Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California rejected, for the second time, Defendant’s attempts to
Seyfarth Synopsis: Yesterday’s blog posting gave our readers an in-depth look at class action settlement developments in 2018, the fourth trend of this year’s Workplace Class Action Report (“WCAR”). In terms of the top ten largest settlement among substantive areas of class action litigation, the monetary value of major
By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Michael L. DeMarino
Seyfarth Synopsis: Professional class settlement objectors can be a thorn-in-the-side for employers and class counsel attempting to settle class actions. Their M.O. is often the same — frivolously object, appeal its denial, settle out of court, and withdraw. It is already hard enough
By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Michael L. DeMarino
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an opinion laced with frustration over a third appeal in a class action involving attorneys’ fees, the Seventh Circuit ruled that an objector was entitled to recover attorneys’ fees from class counsel’s fee award. “Unless the parties expressly agree otherwise,” the Seventh
By Christopher M. Cascino and Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.
Seyfarth Synopsis: In Pearson v. Target Corp., No. 17-2275, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 17337 (7th Cir. June 26, 2018), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit took aim at self-serving class settlement objectors and ordered the district court to review whether certain
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