Contact: Mike Vallante
Phone: 626-824-8927
Cell: 626-437-5414
November 2002
I love an invitation. Invite me to a party, a
wedding, a grand opening, , or to speak about one of my favorite
subjects..lawsuit abuse in America. But please, don't invite me
to be a party to a class-action lawsuit that results in giving
me a coupon while a bunch of lawyers get over $3,000,000.
That's what I got the other day. A wonderful
invitation from a law firm inviting me as a customer of FedEx
to join a class-action lawsuit settlement against the company,
and entitling me to a coupon for my troubles.
According to the lawyers, between February 3
and June 30, 1997, FedEx breached its contract with customers
and shippers by assessing a 2% fuel charge on their U.S. domestic
shipments without incurring higher fuel costs that would warrant
the surcharge. They also apparently did so without proper corporate
authorization, and didn't apply the surcharge in an "equitable"
manner.
FedEx says they did nothing wrong and indeed,
after four years of litigation, a court decided FedEx did get
corporate approval, but, refused to dismiss any of the other claims
by the plaintiffs.
So now we get to my invitation. Because it's
a class-action lawsuit, I'm already part of the party, unless
I act to get "dis-invited". As for my door prize, FedEx will look
at my records and determine how much I'm owed.
So the lawyers who are supposed to be representing
me (even though I never hired them) are saying it's ok for the
company who allegedly wronged me to determine how much I'm owed.
Did I miss something here?
Once it's determined how much I'm owed, it will
be provided to me in the form of a certificate for FedEx products.
For example, a $17 FedEx package entitles me to 35 cents . Not
cash, just a certificate to use the products of the same company
"my" lawyers say cheated me. What was the point?
The point is the $3.2 million that the lawyers
stand to get from this case. That's part of a little section in
my invitation called Attorney's Fees and Expenses. They get $3.2
million while I get a $1 certificate. Welcome to Civil Justice
American Style.
This type of lawsuit is created by and for a
certain group of lawyers who use the courts as their playground
for profit. They seek to make money, while claiming to represent
the interests of "clients" who never hired them.
File a lawsuit, get as many people in on the
class-action claim as possible, and shake down the business to
settle. This is the worst kind of lawsuit abuse. It produces nothing.
It benefits no community. It's a strategy used by lawyers to shake
down businesses. Why wouldn't FedEx want to settle? How many customers
are going to use the certificates? And if it costs the company
more money who pays .FedEx's customers.the people using the certificates
actually pay for them through higher rates. The lawyers who walk
away with $3.223 million are the only winners. We all lose.
Worse, lawyers who practice this way never tell
us, their clients, how much time they individually spent on the
case or why their fee is justified. They don't provide us with
the court dockets, records, time sheets, meetings, and out-of-pocket
costs they expended so I would get my $1 certificate. I think
they should.
So here is what I am doing with my invitation.
I'm accepting it. And I'm asking my lawyers to provide for me
and every single person they mailed this lawsuit to a complete
written detail of how much time they spent on this case, their
time sheets as a firm and as individuals, meeting information,
court documents related to the case, and most especially how much
per hour their settlement equates to. Hey, I didn't ask to be
invited, but I was. And what if the lawyers say no? Well then
I guess I will consider filing a class-action lawsuit against
them by everyone involved in the FedEx suit, and this time I won't
settle for a certificate for the use of their legal services.
CALA is a non-profit, non-partisan grassroots
organization dedicated to informing people of the human and financial
cost of lawsuit abuse. They have over 7000 supporters in the Los
Angeles area, and over 30,000 supporters in California.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you would like a CALA
speaker to address your organization or some information for your
organization's newsletter, let us know today.
Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) is a non-profit,
educational, grassroots organization comprised of small business
and professional people, consumers and others dedicated to the
reform of our civil justice system. If you would like to be added
or deleted from this list, or to request a CALA action kit, please
reply to maryann@maryannmaloney.com.
Feel free to forward this communication and visit our website
at www.losangelescala.org.
