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Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said the settlement prevented the company from discussing the case. "We are pleased to have finally settled this case with the plaintiffs and to finally put this behind us," Kinley said. "We are also pleased to hear that some people took advantage of the vouchers to purchase a new Ford Explorer." Lawyers, judges and legal scholars have long wrangled with how to fairly compensate large number of people who suffered harm that is worth very little individually but adds up in the aggregate. Earlier this year, for instance, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered that a class action lawyer receive 12,500 $10 gift certificates for winning the discount for the roughly 43,000 customers of clothing retailer Windsor Fashions, which solicited personal information during credit card purchases. The judge later reversed himself and ordered the lawyer paid in cash. Typically the rate of redemption of such coupon settlements is not tracked, and judges are only presented with anecdotal evidence of how fair such agreements are when considering approval.
But the judge in the Ford case, at the urging of several lawyers objecting to the original settlement, required the class action attorneys to file a report this year detailing the redemption rates. That report, which highlighted the dismal consumer participation, is expected to be considered by other judges pondering coupon settlements across the country. The Ford case stands out even against the backdrop of endless debate over class action litigation where lawyers get multi-million-dollar paydays for settlements that have minimal value for most of their clients. The Ralph Nader-founded Center for Auto Safety in Washington D.C. expressed outrage and tried to stop the settlement last year. Several others also urged the judge to withhold approval before dropping their opposition in exchange for the donation to auto safety nonprofits and the requirement that coupon redemptions be reported. "The reality is that class members are almost totally irrelevant and the lawyers are in charge," said McGeorge Law School professor John Sims who worked for Nader's Public Citizen Litigation Group. "But this was a stupid case that included a requirement to buy a new car within a year."
[Associated
Press;
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