Are objectors to class action settlements watchdogs or the scums of the earth?

Many adversarial attorneys and corporate dense lawyers will run to the bargaining table when they hear the three words: class action lawsuit. The class action process is very familiar with insurance. Because most class action lawsuits against insurance companies are settled before they go to trial, millions or billions of dollars can be at stake.

The settlement must be approved by the court at a fairness hearing, before attorneys or the class and dense part get their settlement reimbursement. The acceptance of the settlement can be held up by objectors in court.

Keep in mind that a part of the class action settlement process are objectors. As a matter of fact, they are the integral and controversial part of the class action settlement process.

The class action settlements might be improved by some objectors; for example, those who have clients with legitimate gripes with the settlement. It is very important for consumers to know their information when it comes to class action settlements.

Here are some of the most common objections:

• The attorneys of the plaintiffs are being paid too much. 

• Until the class members receive reimbursement, the attorneys of the plaintiffs should not be paid.

• The settlement is not fair, adequate or reasonable.

• Once the settlement is divided among plaintiffs, it amounts to pennies on the dollar.

• The process of the reimbursement is not user-friendly

• The acceptance of the defendant's product as reimbursement shouldn't be forced by class members who were "ripped off'.

Elizabeth Cabraser, attorney with San Francisco-based Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein LLP, and co-chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) class actions and derivative suits committee claims, "I've been involved in several settlements in which objectors have come in and held the settlements hostage until their demands are met.'

Perhaps a tariff on the settlement doesn't sound so bad because you are a class member, but how do you feel about a several-year delay between you actually getting your compensation and the initial settlement agreement? Cabraser claims, "An objector in one case in which I was involved held up the initial settlement of a class action, which put in motion a chain of events that had people fighting over the settlements for seven years.'