AOL – Overlawyered

“Proposed Facebook Settlement Comes Under Fire”

Ted Frank — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:34:43 +0000

The March 2 Wall Street Journal (link dead after 7 days) covers all-for-charity-none-for-the-class “cy pres” settlements of Facebook and AOL—the latter of which was the subject of a Center for Class Action Fairness objection:

Late last year, in a class action claiming that tech giant AOL LLC improperly inserted footers in its users’ emails, Los Angeles federal judge Christina Snyder awarded $25,000 in settlement funds to a Los Angeles legal-aid organization that has the judge’s husband on its board. …

The Virginia-based [sic] Center for Class Action Fairness objected, claiming the settlement raised a conflict of interest. Ted Frank, president of the group, said that to avoid potential conflicts, it would be better to require unclaimed settlement funds to be deposited into state coffers. “The problem is that parties can now give money to a judge’s preferred charity in the hopes that it will prompt the judge to rubber stamp a settlement,” he said.

Tags: AOL, CCAF, class action settlements, class actions, cy pres, Facebook, Public Citizen

“Proposed Facebook Settlement Comes Under Fire” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

AOL putting ads in its users’ emails

Walter Olson — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 05:28:25 +0000

So let’s file a class-action lawsuit about it. (Spam Notes, Oct. 24; Cecchini v. AOL LLC, PDF (C.D. Calif.)).

Tags: AOL, technology

AOL putting ads in its users’ emails is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 16 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:19:29 +0000

Polar bears on parade: “Lawsuits are not the best way to force the public into solving planet-size problems such as climate change.” [Christian Science Monitor editorial]
Jury convicts private investigator Anthony Pellicano, trial of entertainment lawyer Terry Christiansen set for July [Variety; earlier]
Knockoff sneakers differed from Adidas original in having two or four stripes instead of three, didn’t save Payless Shoes from getting hit with $304 million verdict [American Lawyer]
Following up on our discussion of municipal tree liability: Michigan high court OKs homeowner class action over sewer line damage from city trees [AP/MLive]
Attorney Franklin Azar, of Colorado TV-ad fame, says jury’s verdict ordering him to pay a former client $145,000 was really a “big victory” for him [ABA Journal]
Annals of tolling-for-infancy: “Dog bite 10 years ago subject of civil suit” [MC Record]
Feds indict Missouri woman for cruel MySpace hoax that drove victim to suicide: Orin Kerr finds legal grounds weak [@ Volokh]
“I blame R. Kelly for Sept. 11”: some ways potential jurors managed to get off singer’s high-profile Chicago trial [Tribune; h/t reader A.K.]
Update: “click fraud” class actions filed in Texarkana against online ad providers have all now settled [SE Texas Record; earlier]
Judge orders dad to stay on top of his daughter’s education, then jails him for 180 days when she fails to get her general equivalency diploma [WCPO, Cincinnati; update, father released]
Lawyers still soliciting for AOL volunteer class actions [Colossus of Rhodey; earlier]

Tags: Anthony Pellicano, AOL, Arkansas, Cincinnati, click fraud, climate change, Colorado, fathers, global warming, jury selection, Michigan, Missouri, MySpace, roundups, Texas, tolling, trees

May 16 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system