I’m writing a bigger piece on the Anthropic class action lawsuit, but I thought I’d do a quick update on the final settlement hearing yesterday.
Well, that was interesting.
The judge reminds me a bit of Mom, when you’re fibbing and she knows you’re fibbing and you know she knows you’re fibbing but she has this gentle, neutral smile that signals she’s just waiting for you to do the right thing.
The only person in the room who was comfortable was the sharply dressed, sharply minded Anthropic lawyer. She’s the kid who can meet Mom’s gaze and never crack.
The judge gave the plaintiff lawyers five minutes, and the Zoom-in objectors two minutes. She wasn’t being mean by this. Everyone should have put whatever they wanted to say in their motion and/or objection, and the time in court was nothing more than a courtesy, for the folks to highlight what they wanted the judge to focus on.
Oddly enough, the Zoom-in participant that had the most problem with this, and was almost ejected, was a lawyer. It’s a good reminder that there are many lawyers who never appear in court.
The most humorous participant was the objector who then decided to read her objection at top speed in order to fit it all in. It was an astonishing display of speed reading. She didn’t miss a beat or a word, and at the end she had this grin on her face, like a gymnast who just spiked her landing.
Everyone including the judge agreed that two late opt-outs had good reason for being late, and would be allowed to opt-out. The plaintiff lawyers weren’t adverse to allowing other late opt-outs, which was when the Anthropic lawyer went into action. Anthropic does NOT want opt-outs, because there are lawyers ready to swoop in and grab them for their own lawsuits.
One of these lawyers was in the court. He was allowed to participate because a couple of his clients have books in the class settlement (and therefore were members of the class), and books that aren’t in the class settlement (not in the works list). He nammered some absolute bullshit about following a guideline and checklist and the plaintiffs didn’t because they didn’t post the judge’s summary at their web site and the clock should re-start…thereby giving him the ability to sway other authors away from the suit with promises of $150,000 payouts.
I’ve heard of ambulance chasing lawyers, but this was my first experience with a class action chasing lawyer. There is a word for this, barratry, describing lawyers who “exploit vulnerable people for quick, high-profit settlements.”
(Note: the above is my opinion, only. Don’t sue me.)
Mom wasn’t buying it.
Following show-and-tell, the judge had specific questions for the plaintiff lawyers, and she had them sweating by the time she was done. Her questions were specific, precise, and unequivocal. They had to do with the pay-outs to the class reps, the increase in costs, the fact that some of the costs were for other lawyers, and, most specifically, the multiplier.
In a class action lawsuit, in order to justify the risk lawyers take with prolonged court cases where they may not get any fee, courts can award the lawyers a multiplier…a number multiplied against the lodestar (hours x rate) the lawyers have expended on the case. (Judges can also award a straight percentage of the settlement, too.)
Typically, this multiplier falls somewhere between 1 and 4, with 2 and 3 being normal. However, in this case, the multiplier the lawyers are asking is 6.92. Yeah, this is very high, almost an outlier.
At the same time, as the plaintiff lawyers note, this was an unusual case, with a great deal of risk, and an exceptionally good payout for the class.
Where we are now:
Some of the objectors claimed the class action lawyers didn’t listen to them or ignored them. So the judge ordered the lawyers to modify the motion for final settlement, and expand on the reasons why their objections should not sway the judge. They have until May 21. In addition, she gave Anthropic two pages to argue why late opt-outs should be rejected.
My take?
The judge will approve the settlement but might adjust the fee that the lawyers get. And if Anthropic’s argument isn’t strong, or the number of late opt-outs is tiny, she might allow them. However, she won’t reset the clock for Mr. Barratry.
And the claimed book rate is now 92.77%, for a total of 420,576 claimed books.