Comment by a_c_s | Hacker News Reader

Comment by a_c_s | Hacker News Reader

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You missed the most critical points of the parent though. To use your example, Comcast has been overcharging by $10/month for years.

A just resolution would be for each customer to get $120/year they were with Comcast PLUS Comcast should have some penalty for their fraud.

Instead what happens is Comcast agrees to a "huge" $30 million fine that works out to $12/customer per year if everyone opts in to the lawsuit and the lawyers take 50% for their efforts, so the lawyers get $15 million, the customers who sign up get $12 back and the ones who miss the memo get $0.

The customers don't have any recourse to say "no, that's a shitty settlement, we want 100% of what we're owed not 10% of it" or "hey, 50% is too much for the lawyers, I'd rather take $0 than the shitty deal we were offered".

A just system would make the corporation pay the lawyer fees (as part of their punishment for doing illegal things) and the customers/victims would be made 100% whole.

> The customers don't have any recourse to say "no, that's a shitty settlement, we want 100% of what we're owed not 10% of it"

They definitely do, they can decide to opt-out, and retain the right to sue the company on that issue. But those who opt-out would have to go start their own lawsuit. For small matters where you were wronged by $120, and you only get $30 back, this is definitely not worth it to start your own lawsuit, the best action here is to take the money and boycott that company if possible. For bigger amounts, like lemon-law cars, it might be worth it, especially if the payouts look too small. For instance, $300 refund if you had to do multiple transmissions repair on your car doesn't seem that great, given that a transmission repair can cost from $500 to thousands of $ each. In that case it can make sense to opt-out.

> or "hey, 50% is too much for the lawyers, I'd rather take $0 than the shitty deal we were offered".

The article says they usually get $2 for $10, which can still look high I agree, but definitely not 50%.

You actually can remove yourself from a class action and retain the right to sue independently, if you think you will do better and win your 100%. (Or for any other reason)

For purposes of clarity, lawyers don't get 50%, and whatever they do get needs to be approved by the judge. It's often 20-30% depending on work.

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