New Jersey Division of Investment v. Cliffs Natural Resources

Plaintiffs allege that Defendants misrepresented the condition of a mining project as a way to support a huge dividend increase.  As a result of these misrepresentations, investors and shareholders were defrauded.

1. Final Approval granted.
2. The Brown objection was considered and found to be without merit.
3. Objector Brown appealed the decision to the Eighth Circuit, which was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction (the N.D. OH is in the Sixth Circuit).
4. Objector Brown then appealed the Final Approval (correctly) to the Sixth Circuit.
5. Class counsel motioned for an appeal bond of $45,000 ($40,000 in administrative delay costs and $5,000 in appeal costs), which was opposed by Objector-Appellant Brown.
6. The Court GRANTED the full $45,000 bond, noting "[it] will not countenance Attorney Brown's dubious efforts to extract a personal financial payoff - particularly when his meritless efforts and lack of diligence continue to postpone relief to the rest of the class (emphasis added)." (see Order Granting Motion for Appeal Bond, page 2)
7. Objector-Appellant Brown then appealed the motion for appeal bond without posting it.
8. The appeal of the bond issue was dismissed for failure to prosecute (failure to pay the filing fee).
9. Objector-Appellant Brown's "amended appeal" to the Sixth Circuit was dismissed as "untimely."

1. Claims process lacks sufficient oversight.
2. There is no definite timeline for the claims administration process.
3. A portion of the attorneys' fees should be withheld to provide adequate oversight.
4. Attorneys' fees do not reflect actual recovery by the class.
5. Attorneys' fees are excessive and not supported by the docket record.
6. Cy pres provisions should be included in the settlement.
7. Litigation expenses may be inflated.
8. Class representative request for compensation is improper.

In sworn deposition testimony in In re Yahoo! Mail Litigation, Patrick Sweeney testified that, despite not appearing in this case, he had drafted the objection and that any correspondence received by Objector Brown would be forwarded to him (see Patrick Sweeney Deposition Transcript at 110:2-111:6).