December 21, 2007

The editorialists of the Washington Post say that although judges may be legally empowered to find other uses for unclaimed funds left over from class actions, "giving the money away to favorite charities with little or no relation to the underlying litigation is inappropriate and borders on distasteful". Case in point: Judge Harold Baer's disposition of moneys remaining from a class action on behalf of fashion models (via Bader). And maybe an even better case in point: "A court battle between a giant drug benefit company and its stockholders may wind up putting $400,000 worth of free hockey tickets in the hands of Nashville’s needy." The plan has come under considerable criticism from Tennessee lawyers and commentators.