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October 21, 2013|Center for Class Action Fairness, Class Action, Marek v. Lane, Martin v. Blessing, Ted Frank

Class Action Twofer

by Michael S. Greve|

That doesn’t happen every day: a non-profit shop, Ted Frank’s excellent Center for Class Action Fairness, has two cert petitions pending in the Supreme Court, and both are on this week’s re-list watch. Marek v. Lane presents the question of whether a class action settlement that provides cy prez relief that’s of absolutely no use to the class—and no other relief to that class—is nonetheless fair, adequate, and reasonable. Answer, no. (I’ve discussed the case in an earlier post.) Here’s the QP in Martin v. Blessing: Whether an objecting class member – whose antitrust claims have been waived by a settlement negotiated by…

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August 26, 2013|CCAF, Center for Class Action Fairness, Facebook, Ted Frank

Facebook’s Class Act

by Michael S. Greve|

My buddy Ted Frank founded and runs the Center for Class Action Fairness. (Disclosure: I am a member of CCAF’s Board of Directors.) CCAF’s mission is to blow up collusive class actions and settlements—you know, actions where the class members get worthless coupons or nothing at all, while the lawyers walk away with millions in fees. When CCAF learns of impending agreements of this, sort it objects on behalf of class members. There’s a cottage industry of professional objectors, but they’re interested in money and so are usually cut into the deal. CCAF is a non-profit firm, and Ted can’t be bought off: he insists on settlements that actually benefit the class, and on lawyers’ fees that bear some rational relation to those benefits.

CCAF has racked up an impressive record of accomplishments (some listed on the website), and the trial lawyers don’t like Ted. Many corporations don’t like him, either. (Whaddaya mean, we’re supposed to fight nuisance suits and/or compensate actual victims, as opposed to conniving with their class counsel?) Among those companies is Facebook.

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August 26, 2013|Arbitration, Attorney Fees, Center for Class Action Fairness, Class Actions

Reforming Class Action Abuse

by Ted Frank|

This Liberty Law Talk is with Ted Frank on reforming class action litigation and, in particular, the settlements plaintiffs receive under the current system. Frank, the founder of the Center for Class Action Fairness, argues that class-action suits contribute little to plaintiffs and substantially benefit only their lawyers. Monitoring and agency problems reign because most plaintiffs lack the incentives to ensure that the class's lawyers are actually representing their interests and not the lawyer's monetary desires. We also discuss the turn to arbitration by companies as an exit from class actions and Frank's work that contests egregious attorney fee awards…

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May 30, 2012|Center for Class Action Fairness, Ted Frank

Class Act

by Michael S. Greve|

My buddy (and former AEI colleague) Ted Frank, who blogs at Point of Law, runs the Center for Class Action Fairness. CCAF’s sole and wholly salutary purpose is to blow up collusive, plutocrats-of-the-world-unite-and-screw-the consumers settlements between class action lawyers and corporate defendants who, if it weren’t for the trial bar, would deserve everything the trial lawyers dish out to them (and then some). (Disclosure: I serve on CCAF’s Board.) The world hates Ted but once in a while, he finds an impartial forum, as here. To summarize one of the funniest appellate arguments I’ve yet heard: Mr. Frank: Your Honors (Judges Bauer,…

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Book Reviews

A Mirror of the 20th-Century Congress

by Joseph Postell

Wright undermined the very basis of his local popularity—the decentralized nature of the House—by supporting reforms that gave power to the party leaders.

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The Graces of Flannery O'Connor

by Henry T. Edmondson III

O'Connor's correspondence is a goldmine of piercing insight and startling reflections on everything from literature to philosophy to raising peacocks.

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Liberty Classics

Rereading Politica in the Post-Liberal Moment

by Glenn A. Moots

Althusius offers a rich constitutionalism that empowers persons to thrive alongside one another in deliberate communities.

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James Fenimore Cooper and the American Experiment

by Melissa Matthes

In The American Democrat, James Fenimore Cooper defended democracy against both mob rule and majority tyranny.

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Podcasts

Stuck With Decadence

A discussion with Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat discusses with Richard Reinsch his new book The Decadent Society.

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Can the Postmodern Natural Law Remedy Our Failing Humanism?

A discussion with Graham McAleer

Graham McAleer discusses how postmodern natural law can help us think more coherently about human beings and our actions.

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Did the Civil Rights Constitution Distort American Politics?

A discussion with Christopher Caldwell

Christopher Caldwell discusses his new book, The Age of Entitlement.

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America, Land of Deformed Institutions

A discussion with Yuval Levin

Yuval Levin pinpoints that American alienation and anger emerges from our weak political, social, and religious institutions.

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About

Law & Liberty’s focus is on the classical liberal tradition of law and political thought and how it shapes a society of free and responsible persons. This site brings together serious debate, commentary, essays, book reviews, interviews, and educational material in a commitment to the first principles of law in a free society. Law & Liberty considers a range of foundational and contemporary legal issues, legal philosophy, and pedagogy.

The opinions expressed on Law & Liberty are solely those of the contributors to the site and do not reflect the opinions of Liberty Fund.
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