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Show ants mney rere ees. ore But Coupons rangingfrom zeroto $8.76. The bank then automatically Are Clients’ deducted attorney’s fees from cus- tomer accounts —in many cases more than the interest refunded. Legal Reward A federal judge later described the outcome in an article as champion who holds companies ‘Kafkaesque.” Despite such criticism, consumer advocates said Edelman’s settlements resemble hundreds of others in recent years that have steal a million dollars is $5 at a equipment, orange juice and air- @ Continued from E-1 accountable.“The easiest way to time,” he said in aninterview. “But that doesn’t mean the law- generated coupons for computer line tickets. Suchsettlements,they say, can yers should get $5.” erode support forali class actions, Some consumeradvocates say Edelman and other lawyers are benefiting from a process that job discrimination and compen- which have been an effective tool in desegregatingschools,fighting sometimes smacks of collusion. Edelman “is the Darth Vader of class-action settlements,” said sating victims of defective Stephen Gardner, a lawyer bat- public and harm the very people producis. “Abuse threatens to sour the tling Edelman in a pending case and the co-chairman of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. “He's the poster child for how that the class-action tool is supposed to help,” Brian Wolfmanof to rip off consumers under the Class actions open the civiljustice system to otherwise guise of helping them,” said Sally Saltzberg, another Edelman foe whois a formerchiefof consumer protection for theIllinois attorney general'soffice. “He should be thrown out of the bar,” said Susan Koniak, a class-action expert at Boston University Schoolof Law. Even some judges have ques tioned Edelman’s consumeradvocacy. One stopped an action against ITT Residential Capital Corp., criticizing Edelman’s “record of behavior.” In a lawsuit against Citibank, anotherjudge said in a hearing,“I can think ofno plague worse than to have a court imposethelikes of Daniel Edelman ... on absent and unsuspecting members of a class.” Someof Edelman’s more memorable cases: @ Edelman andhiscolleagues sued General Electric Capital Auto Lease in 1994, alleging overly complex lease terminology. A settlement offered custom- ers coupons good for a $100 new car discount or up to $50 off the cost of terminatinga lease. Some consumers called the coupons a “joke” and complained that the lawyers were “getting rich while accomplishing little.” But a federal judge dismissed the complaints and directed the com- pany to pay $600,000 to the lawyers. @ Three yearslater, Edelman's firm offered to drop a similar lawsuit against American Honda Finance Corp. if it mailed cus- tomers$75 and $150 coupons. The company agreed, and Edelman and other lawyers stood to collect $140,000 in cash. “The coupons are essentially worthless,”a federal judge wrote in rejecting the settlement. “A $140,000 attorneys’fee award . is more than just suspect. It is wholly inappropriate.” ® Edelman and other lawyers sued BancBoston Mortgage Corp. in 1991 for allegedly overcollect ing on escrow accounts used to pay real-estate insurance andtax. es. The bank agreed to recalculate its escrow formula and issued customers interest refunds the consumer group Public Citi- zen told a House committee last summer. defenseless consumers. One person cheated out of $10 cannotjus- tify hiring a lawyer; 100,000 who bandtogether can. Edelman argues that he and other class-action lawyers are like bounty hunters, riding the range in search of outlaw corporations andcollecting fees for the service. When they find wrongdoing, they ae it and force change, he sai Most consumer advocates agree that class actions have value beyond the amounts recovered by individuals — as long as the total corporate payout is large enough to deter future wrongdo- ing. A new RandCorp.study sug- gests class actions have effec- tively forced companies to be moreattentive to consumers. As one judge explained in approving a coupon settlement negotiated by Edelman, “Through the accumulation ofsmall claims, class actions can effect reform of improper practices and thereby benefit consumers.”” Edelmansaid in somecases, he seeks coupons because consumers might get nothingif the suits went to trial. Coupons, he explained, “bridge the gap.” Coupons are Jess popular in Congress. In September, House Republicans cited coupon settle- ments in passinga bill that would move mostclass actions into federal rather than state courts. Democrats countered that such action would harm legitimate cases and still fail to stem the couponflow. Increasingly, consumer advocates call on judges to draw the line. “You haveto rely on the courts to ensure that members of the class are not getting ripped off,” said Sally Greenberg of Consum- ers Union. Reform groups, such as Trial Lawyers for Public Justice and the National Association of Consumer Advocates, believe coupon settlements are multiplying because everyone in the court- roomis protecting his own interests. Somelawyers favor coupons because they produce quick, easy deals while generating big fees, E Sunday, November21, 1999 said Beverly Moore, editor of Rising Oil Prices Scare Airline Investors WEEKLY PLANNER Class Action Reports newsletter. If a company issues 100,000 couponsworth $100 each, he said, lawyers may claim a $10 million victory and request 20 percent or 30 percentas legal fees. Companies like the deals, he said, because they generate sales and costfar less than cash. Redemption rates are hard to determine because companies routinely demand thatsettlements be confidential. The record in onecase, against ITT Financial Corp., showed that consumers redeemed only two of96,754 cou- ponsissued, a redemption rate of 0.002 percent. DOWJONES NEWSSERVICE Information: 393-3995. MONDAY NEW YORK When oil prices, topped $26 a barrel earlier this week, it was enough to makean WEDNESDAY Orientation. The women and business committees of the Ogden/Weber and Davis County chambers of commerce will host a question-and-answer session on the ATHENA PowerLink pro- Orientation. The Utah Microenterprise Loan Fund will host an orientation on its program, which offers financing and gram, which provides professional advisory panels to womenowned businesses, p.m., Weber State University Aaa airline investor's stomach churn. Oil, up from just $11 at the start of this year, accounts for 10 percent to 15 percent oftotal costs at; Management support to smallbusiness entrepreneurs, 3 p.m., mostairlines. Asoil prices climbed, airline! stocks have tumbled. Delta Air] Lines Inc. is down more than5] Salt Lake City. Information: 269-8408. percent, from close of $51.37'at] UMLFoffices, 3595 S. Main St., Center, 1305 dist St., Ogden. the endoflast week. For judges, the settlements clear dockets by resolving thousands ofclaims with a pen stroke, consumer advocates said. There is little downside because few consumers complain. “It's such a club between the As your business Changes, corporations and the lawyers,” said Bruce Marks, whohasfought couponsettlements for the Neighberhood Assistance Corp. of America. “A club that leaves out the victims.” The Rand study, to be published early next year, suggests that lawyers’ fees drive many settlementnegotiations. Lawyers told Randresearchers they had been approached by opposing attorneys offering “an early settlement in exchange for minimal discovery, modest recov- eries for class members and attractive fees,” according to a preliminary report on the booklength study. Lawyers who rejected the offers reported getting condescending lectures: “The defense counseltold them thatthey ‘didn’t Seaton how the game is mn 1993, lawyer Derek Casey tape-recorded a General Motors attorney who tried to persuade him to drop a Kansas lawsuit against the automakerandjoin a coupon settlement in Philadelphia.In return, the attorneysaid, GM might be willing to discuss “some way to deal with your fees in a modest way.” Casey complained to a federal judge that the offer was “purely and simplya bribe,” but the judge is your Productivity software keeping pace? Move up to Microsoft Office 2000andgive your people Microsoft Office 2000 makes it easier than everto keep informed and work smart in a connected world. Office 2000 provides your organization the essential tools to access, analyze, and sharevital information. As a result, you'll boost workgroup productivity and teamwork, enhance customer relationshipswith improved knowledge and communications, and makebetter, more timely business decisions. the productivity tools they need to Stay on top. ruled there was “no merit” in Casey’s charge. Two years later, an appeals court rejected the Philadelphia Open License—the smart, simple way to save on Office 2000 Acquiring Office 2000 has never beeneasier thanksto the Microsoft Open License program. Through OpenLicense you receive 18% to 28% discounts on your initial order and you continue to save on additional orders for two years. settlement, which offered con- sumers coupons and the lawyers $9.5 million in cash. A federal judge said the deal was “inadequate and unreasonable.” Even some companies involved in no-cash deals have developed qualms, said Lew Goldfarb, a vice president at DaimlerChrysler Contact your preferred Microsoft reselierorvisit the Microsoft Business Advantage Web site at www.microsoft.com/Biz/, so everyone in your organization hasthe productivity advantage right fromthe start. Corp. In 1995, he said, his com- pany agreed in a settlement to repair minivan doorlatches — the exact promise it had already made to federal regulators. Class lawyers said thesetitle- ment included an enforcement Qwest will waive the normal $100 set-up costs. A great value worth $175 US! mechanism,required Chrysler to publicize therecall and as result probably saved lives — something Goldfarb disputes. “The lawyers got $5 million and consumers got zero, not a piece of gum,” Goldfarbsaid. “I’m *Ofter valid when you sign up for six months of web hosting service. 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