United States Seventh Circuit

The circumstances of a $25 million class action settlement demanded closer scrutiny than the district judge gave it under FRCP 23(e), where facts suggested that 1) settlement was a product of a "reverse auction" by defendant's lawyers and 2) litigation was undervalued.

Appellate Information

• Argued 02/12/2002
• Decided 04/23/2002
• Published 04/23/2002

Judges

• POSNER, Circuit Judge., Before CUDAHY, POSNER, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Seventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Roger W. Kirby (argued), Kirby, McInerney & Squire, New York City, Ronald L. Futterman, Futterman & Howard, Chicago, IL, for Lynne Carnegie., Henry Monaghan (argued), Columbia University Law School, Naomi Katz, Holland & Knight, New York City, for Ronnie Haese and Nancy Haese., Matthew E. Van Tine (argued), Marvin A. Miller, Miller, Faucher & Cafferty, Chicago, IL, Daniel M. Harris, Chicago, IL, Francine Schwartz, Arlington, Heights, IL, Charles M. Thompson, Thompson Hutsler, Birmingham, AL, John J. Pentz, Sudbury, MA, for Cheryl Reynolds, Nannie Triplett and DeCarlo Turner., Burt M. Rublin (argued), Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll, Chicago, IL, James D. Adducci, Adducci, Dorf, Lehner, Mitchell & Blankenship, Chicago, IL, Daniel R. Young, Bryan Cave, Kansas City, MO, for Beneficial Nat. Bank and Beneficial Tax Masters, Inc., David H. Latham, Chicago, IL, N. Louise Ellingsworth, Daniel R. Young, Bryan Cave, Kansas City, MO, Mark W. Brennan (argued), for H&R Tax Services, Inc., Lawrence W. Schonbrun, Berkeley, CA, for Pearl Martinez., Howard B. Prossnitz, Chicago, IL, for DeCarlo Turner., Steven E. Angstreich (argued), Levy, Angstreich, Finney, Baldante, Mann & Burkett, Philadelphia, PA, William H. London, Michael B. Hyman, Much, Shelist, Freed, Denenberg, Ament & Rubenstein, Chicago, IL, Thomas C. Cronin, Cummins & Cronin, Chicago, IL, Kenneth W. Behrend, Behrend & Ernsberger, Pittsburgh, PA, for Geral Mitchell, Ann Westfall, Lester Westfall, Rachel Ramsey and Donna L. Lonzo., Francine Schwartz, Arlington Heights, IL, pro se., Howard Brian Prossnitz, Birndorf & Birndorf, Chicago, IL, for Nannie Triplett., Howard Brian Prossnitz, Birndorf & Birndorf, Chicago, IL, pro se., R. Stephen Griffis, Birmingham, AL, Charles M. Thompson, Thompson Hutsler, Birmingham, AL, John J. Pentz, Sudbury, MA, for Janice Williams, Ann Abercrombie and Karen Boden., Daniel A. Edelman, James O. Latturner, Amy A. Breyer, Edelman, Combs & Latturner, Chicago, IL, for Belinda Peterson., Christened V. Anyone, Chicago, IL, for Roy Carbajal., Steven E. Angstreich (argued), Levy, Angstreich, Finney, Baldante, Mann & Burkett, Philadelphia, PA, William H. London, Much, Shelist, Freed, Denenberg, Ament & Rubenstein, Chicago, IL, Frank H. Tomlinson, Pritchard, McCall & Jones, LLC, Birmingham, AL, for Tommy Jones and Tommy Vaughn.