...became slightly less thin with the publication of Chavez v. Netflix, Inc. (2008) __ Cal.App.4th __.
Frank Chavez sued Netflix, Inc. (Netflix) over its practice of advertising that it would send customers " 'unlimited' " DVD rentals with "1 Day Delivery" for a flat monthly fee. Alleging that both selling points were false, Chavez sought injunctive relief and damages on behalf of himself and a class of current and former Netflix subscribers. Before the class was certified, Netflix agreed to settle the class action by providing one month of free DVD rental services or upgrades to class members who claimed the benefit. The trial court approved the settlement and awarded attorney fees of $2,040,000 to be paid by Netflix to class counsel. The appellants in these consolidated appeals objected to the class action settlement and fee award in the trial court. They contend that the trial court abused its discretion in approving the settlement, affording notice to class members, and determining the amount of fees. Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm the orders in issue.
The case is full of interesting language supporting settling parties. A detailed analysis has been posted over at the UCL Practitioner. We're in trial, so we'll just point you in that direction. You can download the case here in pdf or word format.
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