Judge Lucy Koh Questions Tech Class Settlement

Major technology companies recently agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit in which 64,000 employees accused them of conspiring not to recruit each other's workers, suppressing compensation. The case alleged an inner circle of Silicon Valley executives communicated during a period when the interoperability of companies' products was often discussed. Embarrassing emails between company executives surfacing during E-discovery played a role in the settlement, with four tech companies agreeing to pay plaintiffs $324.5 million. Plaintiffs had planned to ask for about $3 billion in damages at trial, which could have been trebled under antitrust law. Last week, Judge Koh told plaintiffs during a hearing that they had leverage going into trial against the defendants, given the strength of emails showing former CEOs, such as Apple's Steve Jobs and Google's Eric Schmidt, were planning to enforce their no-poaching agreement. Reportedly, Judge Koh had concerns about whether the amount is really fair to the class and deferred a decision about whether to approve the deal. Though Plaintiffs' attorney said the workers faced serious risks on appeal all the way up, Judge Koh was skeptical the Supreme Court would get involved by further restricting class actions. She has previously approved separate settlements totaling $20 million reached by Disney's Lucasfilm and Pixar units, and Intuit. Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe are paying a higher premium to settle this case than Disney and Intuit did, as calculated by the number of employees from each company in the class. Avoiding executives appearing on the witness stand made a settlement attractive. The civil case followed a 2010 Justice Department case on the same matter. Trial was set to begin last month in California. See story here-- http://reut.rs/1q5cB3Y

BP Settlement Fund business loss payouts to continue per Judge

New Orleans U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier denied BP's attempt to halt payments from a settlement fund to reimburse businesses and individuals for losses from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico. The court rejected BP's arguments that the fund administrator misinterpreted claims and miscalculated payments, amounting to fictitious claims. The judge previously upheld interpretation of settlement terms governing payments to businesses affected by the spill. BP sought an injunction blocking making payments to businesses. BP maintains decisions made in claims handling expose the company to losses never contemplated in the settlement. Attorneys who brokered last year's deal with BP say the request was designed to set up an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to review the matter. The oil company filed a notice of appeal and is reportedly evaluating how to proceed following the ruling to preserve rights and prevent so-called meritless awards. Last year, BP estimated it would pay roughly $7.8 billion to resolve tens of thousands of claims by businesses and individuals covered by the settlement. The company now claims it can't give a reliable estimate for the total value of the deal. According to experts, it appears difficult to reopen the settlement at the appellate level because of extensive negotiation and ultimate approval by BP and its legal team. The hearing last Friday took place during a break in the sixth week of the continuing civil trial aimed at determining the degree of culpability that BP and other companies have for the accident. See stories-- http://on.wsj.com/14KdZxJ and http://usat.ly/10kDou3