Comments on: “Few plaintiffs in Ford case use coupons as lawyers reap millions”

By: Furor over Ford Explorer class action settlement

Furor over Ford Explorer class action settlement — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:24:57 +0000

[…] settlement discussed in this space July 17 — in which lawyers nabbed more than $25 million in fees and expenses, while fewer than 100 […]

By: Invid

Invid — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:49:34 +0000

Jim, the law school route isn’t nearly a profitable as they’ll tell you it is.
But you’ll learn (as I did) interesting ways to convince yourself that what you do is helpful to society and won’t land you in hell.

By: Jim Collins

Jim Collins — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:51:57 +0000

“The money paid to the attorneys may be labeled as “attorneys’ fees and expenses” to make everyone feel like they’re all ethical and right and proper, but as far as Ford is concerned, they bought immunity from future lawsuits for a lousy $25 million plus $37,000 of coupons.”

Yep. Ford paid out $25,037,000 plus it’s own legal costs to buy protection from future extortion, I mean, lawsuits.

I have got to go to law school. I get that law degree I can run one hell of a protection racket and not have a chance of being arrested.

By: Bill Poser

Bill Poser — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:33:17 +0000

Griffin3,

I don’t get your reasoning. If we assume that Ford’s legal costs are approximately the same as those of the plaintiffs, the cost of the settlement to Ford is about $50 million. Dividing by 2.4 million vehicles sold, that comes to about $20 per vehicle. How do you get $400?

By: Griffin3

Griffin3 — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:26:04 +0000

It’ll indeed make the cars more expensive. How much? Well, 25 million, 2.4 vehicles sold, 68,000 in this class, minus the coupons, carry the one, all the other lawyer’s expenses, settlements, in-house legal work … Hrmm. Comes to $400 per vehicle.

By: Bob Lipton

Bob Lipton — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:32:13 +0000

Everyone has done well? Ford has done well by shelling out twenty six million dollars? How many cars will they have to sell to make that up? Oh, right. They’ll just raise prices.

Bob

By: Peter Malinchoc

Peter Malinchoc — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:53:48 +0000

I would like to see a law requiring that the lawyers be compensated in the same manner as the class members. Here are your 250,000 coupons sirs.

By: Ted Frank

Ted Frank — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:47:25 +0000

NB that this is the same lawsuit we criticized in 2007.

By: Cloudesley Shovell

Cloudesley Shovell — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:18:25 +0000

Ford (and other firms) know that class-action coupon redemption rates are well under one percent. The other wonderful thing about coupons is that, if one is used, it must be used to buy a brand new Ford vehicle. It’s a win-win for Ford!

The money paid to the attorneys may be labeled as “attorneys’ fees and expenses” to make everyone feel like they’re all ethical and right and proper, but as far as Ford is concerned, they bought immunity from future lawsuits for a lousy $25 million plus $37,000 of coupons.

Everyone wins here except the people who are supposed to benefit–the client. Is anyone surprised?

By: Bill Poser

Bill Poser — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:02:35 +0000

I understand why class action lawyers go for these ridiculous settlements, but I don’t understand why the courts approve them. Doesn’t the court have an obligation to prevent the lawyers from selling out their clients, especially in class actions where the attorney-client relationship is so tenuous?