We saw an ad in today's Wall Street Journal that let us know that we are members of a proposed class action settlement involving Classmates.com, the online service that helps you relive those (choose one) wonderful or painful high school years. Apparently the lawyers found a few people who would say they were outraged about Classmates' e-mail practices and user privacy policies so they could file a class action lawsuit to fix this monumental problem.
Since we signed up for the free version several years ago but never ponied up for the "Gold" level that would actually let us correspond with high school chums from long ago, we didn't expect that our settlement would be worth much, and we were not disappointed. The proposed settlement would give folks like us two bucks off a Gold membership should we decide to ever upgrade. Existing Gold members would be able to take the same deal or, if they prefer, get a check for $3.
Having ensured that justice prevailed, the high-powered trial lawyers involved in the suit - Keller Rohrback of Seattle and Kabateck Brown Kellner of L.A. - are asking for up to $1.3 million in fees, plus an unspecified but no doubt hefty amount to cover costs for investigating the facts, litigating the case, and negotiating the settlement.
Let's hope when District Judge Richard Jones of Seattle holds the settlement hearing in October that he has the same cost/benefit questions as Judge Alvin Hellerstein had about the proposed settlement in the case over injuries sustained by responders and rescue workers in the aftermath of 9/11. At least in the World Trade Center case there were real victims, but once again the "victims" get little or nothing, while the lawyers get seven-figure paydays.