The Unwelcome Guest At The Class Settlement Table: Serial Objectors

Finally, the end is in sight. After motions to dismiss, discovery, hearings, a highly contested motion for class certification and mediation, the parties have reached a class settlement. The parties are relieved to end the uncertainty and burdens of a class action, and now turn their attention to obtaining court approval. But suddenly the settlement faces another obstacle – the serial objector.

Because class action settlements bind absent class members, due process requires that class members be given the opportunity to object to a proposed settlement. Rule 23(e)(5). This is a sensible rule, but it can be abused by "serial objectors." While class counsel and defense counsel work to negotiate a settlement in good faith, the serial objector threatens to delay or even derail settlement via (often last-minute) objections that are usually frivolous and overruled. But the serial objector is not actually interested in winning in court. Instead, the serial objector's purpose