![]() ![]() ![]() In meetings with the White plaintiffs, Caddell and other lawyers urged them to change their minds or risk losing a $5,000 "incentive fee" that courts often distribute to class representatives to compensate them for the risk and time they put into the litigation. ![]() (Caddell says a much smaller group of plaintiffs who submitted evidence they were denied jobs or credit because of incorrect entries could get $750 apiece.) ![]() By their calculations, the 775,000 or so class members who submitted claims would get $26 apiece. Wolf and Juntikka disagreed vociferously and urged the White clients, who serve as representatives of the entire class, to reject it as inadequate. You don't know."Īt the same time, he issued an unusual "tentative ruling" in January 2009 in which he would deny certification of a class of millions of consumers because not all of them had inaccurate entries on their credit reports and some were actually helped by reports that had incorrect coding on how debts were discharged.Ĭarter's ruling spurred Caddell and Lieff Cabraser to work out a settlement and a month later they had a deal: The three agencies would pay $45 million, with lawyers keeping $10 million of that as additional fees. "We have the Toyota case upstairs," the judge continued. Orange County "has the reputation of being rather conservative," he said, "but, you know, we have practitioners who have brought incredible verdicts." In hearings in 20 he cajoled each side, at one point reminding lawyers for the credit agencies how risky it would be to take the case to trial. The credit agencies agreed to a partial settlement in 2008 under which they'd revamp their reporting procedures, and pay the lawyers $6 million in fees.Īs Juntikka and Wolf pressed for money too, Judge Carter expressed growing frustration with the case. Carter, made it clear he didn't think much of the plaintiffs' case and he wanted the two sides to work out a settlement as quickly as possible. They are busy, and don't like to see their courts clogged with civil cases against well-heeled corporate defendants that can use vigorous motion practice to delay their opponents and run up the costs. The plaintiff lawyers want to reach a settlement with the least amount of work." "That's not happening in a class action," Carpinello said, however. In a traditional settlement with active plaintiffs who hired their own lawyers, courts tend not to question any agreement that ends the litigation. That means negotiating a settlement quickly, and with a meaningful fee, even if the agreement leaves little for individual plaintiffs. There's a big conflict lurking at the center of every class action, because the lawyers who are supposedly negotiating on behalf of the class also want to make as much of a profit as possible. (Lieff Cabraser referred questions to Caddell, who disputed the meaning of those contracts.) As the case proceeded, Lieff Cabraser joined forces with Caddell and another law firm to try and negotiate a settlement with Experian,signing their own agreement to share the case. ( He lost.)Īccording to Juntikka and Carpinello, the so-called White plaintiffs Juntikka brought into the case each had client agreements with Lieff Cabraser that specified the firm would represent them. After a bit of the inter-lawyer squabbling that typically ensues in such cases, Lieff Cabraser emerged as the lead law firm in the case along with Houston attorney Michael Caddell, a mass-tort specialist whose clients have included families of children killed in Branch Davidian standoff with federal agents in 1993. Since Juntikka had no experience with class actions, he in turn recruited San Francisco's Lieff Cabraser, which has made its mark in everything from consumer class actions to the $200 billion multistate tobacco settlement in 1998.Īrmed with five plaintiffs who complained of incorrect entries on their credit reports, Lieff Cabraser filed a class action. Charles Juntikka, one of New York's leading consumer bankruptcy lawyers, and Daniel Wolf of Washington recruited five of Juntikka's former bankruptcy clients to serve as representative plaintiffs in a class action against the credit agencies. ![]()
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