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Full-Text Articles in Law
Ethical Duties Of Class Counsel Also Representing Class Representatives, Nancy J. Moore
Ethical Duties Of Class Counsel Also Representing Class Representatives, Nancy J. Moore
Faculty Scholarship
In their excellent article entitled May Class Counsel Also Represent Lead Plaintiffs?,1 Professors Bruce Green and Andrew Kent explore a particular aspect of two broader questions I have also addressed: (1) who should regulate class action lawyers;2 and (2) who will regulate class action lawyers?3 I, too, focused on lawyers' conflicts of interest; however, Professors Green and Kent focus even more specifically on conflicts arising from class counsel's simultaneous representation of both the class and individual clients who are serving or will serve as class representatives. Their concern is with three particular scenarios in which the class …
In Hell There Will Be Lawyers Without Clients Or Law, Susan P. Koniak, George M. Cohen
In Hell There Will Be Lawyers Without Clients Or Law, Susan P. Koniak, George M. Cohen
Faculty Scholarship
Class action abuse is a particularly interesting area in which to explore both when and why law might fail to affect lawyer conduct and the complexity of the lawyer-entity relationship. By class action abuse, we have in mind three related problems: collusive settlements, inadequate representation of class interests, and payoffs to objectors and their counsel. The law condemns collusive settlements and the lawyers who make them.20 It demands that class counsel adequately represent the class.21 Paying objectors and their counsel to drop their challenges to class settlements is, at best, legally questionable behavior and, at worst, evidence of …
Under Cloak Of Settlement, Susan P. Koniak
Under Cloak Of Settlement, Susan P. Koniak
Faculty Scholarship
In this Article, we discuss examples of class action settlements in which the conduct allegedly engaged in by class counsel-and in some instances by the defendants and their lawyers--could constitute a civil wrong or a criminal act under state or federal law, but a court nevertheless blessed the conduct by approving the settlement. We argue that the findings made by federal and state courts in blessing these settlements, namely, findings on the adequacy of class counsel, the lack of collusion between class counsel and the defendants, and the fairness of the settlement terms, should not immunize the conduct of the …