This is a blog for insurance agents about insurance, and much of insurance revolves around the law and lawyers. So there is a share of topics on this blog devoted to various aspects of the law. It seems, however, that we are on a legal streak this week, which may be a little much, but we could not let this latest example of court-approved tort excess and self dealing pass.
The case at hand involves tainted gasoline, damaged fuel gauges, 79 class action lawyers and Shell Oil. Shell volunteered to repair the gauges as consumer complaints began, and processed approximately 81,000 claims (see here). The lawyers brought a class action in New Orleans, and reached a settlement with Shell for approximately $10 million. The problem is that most of the award went to the lawyers (approximately $6.9 mil), not to the injured parties, and then the judge sealed the records of the case and issued a gag order so only the judge and 5 of the attorneys know how the $6.9 mil was divided up (see here). From the WSJ article (see here or here, an excellent summary):
The 79 lawyers who shared in that windfall are barred from discussing their take with anyone, according to a January gag order. That order was issued at the urging of the five lawyers who decided how much everyone else would get.
Some of the attorneys are not going quietly, and have appealed the order. The judge was thinking what???
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