For class counsel
When residual funds cannot reach class members, the cy pres plan becomes part of the record. We build it around the nexus to your case, keep counsel out of recipient selection, and document every step for the court.
Where we help
We can join at any stage. Earlier involvement leaves less to correct later.
Cy pres provisions that anticipate residual funds, with a purpose and criteria tied to the class and the claims, so the court approves them with the settlement.
Snyder (2015), pp. 9, 13
A distribution plan described in the notice, with a sufficient nexus to the litigation and a way to hold recipients accountable for the funds.
Snyder (2015), pp. 9–10
Comprehensive outreach and extensive networking to surface the strongest applicants, then due diligence and an Administrator's Report and Recommendations. You keep the decisions, subject to court approval.
Snyder (2015), p. 10
Documentation of the grant-making process to support your motion for approval of the recipients.
Snyder (2015), p. 10
Grant agreements, payments tied to benchmarks, grantee monitoring, and annual and final reports, so the case can close cleanly.
Snyder (2015), p. 11
Why it matters
The Ninth Circuit rejected a distribution to "geographically isolated and substantively unrelated charities" in Nachshin v. AOL. Criteria built on the claims and the class, and a documented nexus for each recipient, answer it.
Snyder (2015), pp. 3–4
Objectors in the Google Buzz settlement argued that proposed recipients already received support from the defendant. An open, competitive process run by a neutral administrator answers it.
Snyder (2015), pp. 5–6
When every applicant contact goes to the administrator, colleagues and favored organizations cannot lobby counsel, and counsel never has to object to an applicant a co-counsel favors.
Snyder (2015), p. 14
[E]ach of the identified organizations has a nexus to the underlying lawsuit … the court approves the six cy pres recipients selected by the State and the Cy Pres Administrator.
Independence
We contract with plaintiff's counsel and Attorneys General offices to administer residual funds while keeping an arm's-length distance from the parties to the litigation. That distance, and our experience, protect the fairness of the recipient selection and avoid any appearance of impropriety.
We do not take positions on the merits, and we do not promise funds to anyone before the competitive process is complete.
Tell us where the case stands, the size of the fund and what the agreement says about unclaimed money. We respond within one business day.
Or email Matt Iverson-Comelo at matt@cypressettlementfunds.com