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Structuring Class Settlements to Obtain Court Approval

Attorney Fees, Notice, Claims Rates, Coupon Settlements, Incentive Awards, and More

Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A

This program is included with the Strafford CLE Pass. Click for more information.
This program is included with the Strafford All-Access Pass. Click for more information.

Conducted on Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Recorded event now available

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This CLE course will examine how parties in class litigation can structure class settlement agreements to overcome courts' increasing rejection of such agreements and obtain approval. The program will analyze recent court treatment of attorneys' fees; notice and claims-response rates; cy pres and coupon settlements; incentive awards; and claims-made and reversionary settlements.

Description

Class litigators continue to face challenges resulting from court scrutiny of class settlements. Courts are increasingly tossing out class settlement agreements that include conditional incentive awards, coupon settlements, and cy pres distributions, finding they do not provide sufficient benefits to the class.

Courts continue to dissect attorney fees as part of the settlement approval. All parties must carefully consider how counsel is paid. Recently, judges (and the FTC) are also paying more attention to the claims rate (percentage of class members filing claims).

Amendments to Rule 23 of the FRCP, implemented in of December 1, 2018, have significantly changed how district courts address class notice, settlement approval, and objectors to class settlements. In addition to navigating these rule changes, class counsel must also understand recent court actions regarding class settlement agreements to develop successful litigation and settlement tactics.

Listen as our panel of class litigators analyzes how counsel in class litigation can structure settlements to overcome courts' increasing rejections of settlement terms, proactively deal with objectors, and obtain approval. The group will look at recent court treatment of attorneys' fees, notice and claims response rates, cy pres and coupon settlements, incentive awards, and claims made and reversionary settlements.

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Outline

  1. Notice and claims forms
  2. Claims rates
  3. Coupon settlements
  4. Cy pres relief
  5. Claims made, reversionary settlements
  6. Incentive awards
  7. Attorney fees
  8. Objectors

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • How are courts currently dealing with cy pres awards, coupons, and conditional incentive awards in proposed class settlements?
  • What are court objections to low claim response rates?
  • What should all counsel consider concerning the benefit to the class when setting attorney fees?

Faculty

Scolnick, Kahn
Kahn A. Scolnick
Partner
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher

Mr. Scolnick has handled a wide range of litigation matters in state and federal courts, from the pre-filing stage...  |  Read More

Additional faculty
to be announced.

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