Class Action Shenanigans: Explorer Rollovers
A bunch of lawyers get together and figure out some way they can go after a company for a certain product. They sign up a few of the "affected" and get the lawsuit registered as a class action. A few years later they walk away with millions and the "class" gets nothing, while the company had its reputation attacked and years of legal fees and quarterly uncertainties to deal with.
Such is the nature of class action lawsuits.
The most recent to be settled was "by" owners of 1991-2001 Ford Explorer's (thats a lot of people), for the "rollover problem." Of course, there was no rollover problem with Explorers, just shitty drivers, but thats another matter. This suit was not by those affected by rollovers, but rather the fact that the resale value of the SUV's dropped due to the perception of rollovers.
In this case, the lawyers walked away with $25 million. The class? They could apply for a $300 to $500 voucher towards a new vehicle. At most this will come to $846,500 for the class, as only about 1,700 of them actually applied for the voucher. So far only 75 vouchers, or $37,500, has been redeemed.
This country needs litigation reform, and it needs it now. It needs it before healthcare reform (because it is one of the biggest problems with the current healthcare system) and it needs it to keep American companies effective.
However, the largest contributor to Obama so far? Lawyers, and the lobbies that represent them. It is why he has not made any move towards litigation reform, and it is something the Republicans should be pounding him on, but idiotically are not. Of course lawyers love convoluted and loophole riddled legislation, so Obama has been doing them well so far. Hopefully someone will step up and stop the ridiculous charade that is litigation in this country, of which class action is just one part.
Such is the nature of class action lawsuits.
The most recent to be settled was "by" owners of 1991-2001 Ford Explorer's (thats a lot of people), for the "rollover problem." Of course, there was no rollover problem with Explorers, just shitty drivers, but thats another matter. This suit was not by those affected by rollovers, but rather the fact that the resale value of the SUV's dropped due to the perception of rollovers.
In this case, the lawyers walked away with $25 million. The class? They could apply for a $300 to $500 voucher towards a new vehicle. At most this will come to $846,500 for the class, as only about 1,700 of them actually applied for the voucher. So far only 75 vouchers, or $37,500, has been redeemed.
This country needs litigation reform, and it needs it now. It needs it before healthcare reform (because it is one of the biggest problems with the current healthcare system) and it needs it to keep American companies effective.
However, the largest contributor to Obama so far? Lawyers, and the lobbies that represent them. It is why he has not made any move towards litigation reform, and it is something the Republicans should be pounding him on, but idiotically are not. Of course lawyers love convoluted and loophole riddled legislation, so Obama has been doing them well so far. Hopefully someone will step up and stop the ridiculous charade that is litigation in this country, of which class action is just one part.
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