A judge has approved a $5.8 million settlement in an underpayments class action against convenience store chain On The Run despite what she said was the class action law firm’s “extraordinary” reason for reaching the deal.
Courts stepped up their scrutiny of class action settlements in 2022, with judges grappling with difficult issues such as funding commissions in employment cases and whether settlements, even those worth hundreds of millions of dollars, were fair to group members.
A judge has described as “extraordinary” a law firm’s argument that the court should approve a $5.8 million settlement in an underpayments class action against the On The Run convenience store chain partly because it ran out of funds to take the case to trial.
A judge has cut at least $170,000 from the fees sought by a law firm running a class action on behalf of Drakes Supermarkets store managers who were allegedly underpaid — the same firm that saw its fees reduced in two similar class actions.
Keeping up her scrutiny of fee disclosures by Adero Law in employment class actions launched in her court, a judge has questioned whether the law firm breached its fiduciary duty to the lead applicant in litigation against Drakes Supermarkets.
A judge overseeing two underpayment class actions against supermarket chain Romeo’s has declined to vary a settlement agreement to provide for distribution by Christmas, saying plaintiff firm Adero Law had not taken “all reasonable steps” to facilitate the payments.
A law firm has filed a class action against Wilson Security on behalf of employees who claim to have been underpaid, just weeks after a court shut down a group proceeding against the company brought by a self-represented worker.
A judge overseeing two underpayments class actions against supermarket chain Romeo’s has rejected a bid for a private costs assessor by Adero Law, which will now go unpaid until at least January.
A judge has questioned a class action firm’s claim that it and its counsel spent 180 hours and $63,000 in fees preparing pleadings in an underpayments class action against supermarket chain Drakes, saying the number of hours was not “reasonable”.
A law firm has lost its bid to appoint a costs referee after reaching a $5.8 million class action settlement with the On The Run convenience store chain, saying it was “hurtful” for a judge to suggest the firm wanted to “maximise its position” over group members.