Kristen Hawes

Seventh Circuit Ties Class Counsel’s Recovery of Attorneys’ Fees to Amount Claimed by Class, in Context of a Judgment

By Kristen Hawes on November 20, 2017 Posted in TCPA

On November 14, 2017, the Seventh Circuit issued its third opinion ending a class action that was almost a decade old. Holtzman v. Turza, No. 17-2330, 2017 WL 5450484 (7th Cir. Nov. 14, 2017). The class action alleged that the defendant violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. § 227, by sending an … Continue Reading

California Court Rejects Tuna Settlement Over Scope of Release

By Kristen Hawes on February 25, 2016 Posted in Settlements

In recent years, courts have been more carefully scrutinizing class action settlements. A recent example is Hendricks v. Starkist Co., Case No. 3:13-cv-00729 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 19, 2016), where the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied final approval of a $12 million settlement of a class action filed against StarKist. The lawsuit … Continue Reading