Posner: Class Counsel Sold Out Class; Settlement Undone in Pella Window Case

One-sided terms and conflicts of interest by the class representative and his embattled nephew, who served as class counsel, led to the unwinding of a settlement over allegedly leaky windows in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit June 2 (Eubank v. Pella Corp., 2014 BL 152767, 7th Cir., No. 13-2091).

Judge Richard A. Posner, writing for the court, concluded that “class counsel sold out the class.”

The court applauded the objectors, including Kent Eubank and five others, for challenging a settlement that was “inequitable—even scandalous.”

The court said the settlement, which resolved claims that some ...