A recent Ninth Circuit decision on a class action settlement, In re Apple Inc. Device Performance Litigation, 2022 WL 4492078 (9th Cir. Sept. 28, 2022), received significant attention in the legal media. It addressed several issues of significance to lawyers negotiating class settlements: (1) class representative incentive awards; (2) a requirement that class members attest to having experienced the harm at issue to obtain relief; (3) notice to class members that are legal entities; and (4) the legal standard for settlements negotiated prior to class certification. Here are my thoughts on the court’s treatment of each of these issues:

Incentive Awards: The Ninth Circuit approved incentive awards of $1,500 for named plaintiffs who were not deposed and $3,000 for those who were. It noted that it had previously rejected or criticized awards of $20,000 and $30,000. The Ninth Circuit reiterated its prior position that an incentive award should be consistent with the time and effort spent by the plaintiff, the benefit to the class and any risks taken by the plaintiff. But the award should not put the plaintiff in a “preferred position in the settlement.” The Ninth Circuit rejected the Eleventh Circuit’s view that two 19th century Supreme Court cases prohibit these awards (see my blog post on that), an issue that might reach the Supreme Court. While defendants often view these awards as immaterial from a financial perspective, ensuring smooth sailing of a settlement may warrant researching how they’ve been treated in the circuit before agreeing to a specific amount.

Attestation Requirement: The plaintiffs brought statutory and other claims based on allegations that Apple’s updated version of iPhone software slowed the phones’ performance without disclosing this at the time it released the updates. The settlement class was defined as all owners of certain iPhones at the relevant time, but cash payments were made available only to class members who attested under penalty of perjury that they experienced the diminished performance during the relevant timeframe. The Ninth Circuit found this appropriate because a class member who could not attest to this would have a “valueless claim.” The Ninth Circuit rejected an argument that class members who did not experience (or notice) the problem lacked standing because it concluded that allegations that all putative class members experienced the problem were sufficient where the case settled at the pleading stage.

Notice to Non-Individual Class Members: Some class members were businesses that bought iPhones for their employees. Apple told the district court it did not have contact information for corporate purchasers, so notice was given to all individuals who had registered iPhones through Apple, including individual employees of businesses. The Ninth Circuit found this sufficient.

Legal Standard for Settlements: The Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded the district court’s approval of the settlement because the district court’s order, while thorough, stated that it had presumed that the settlement was fair and reasonable. This was contrary to Ninth Circuit precedent that such a presumption must not be applied for settlements reached prior to class certification. There isn’t much that practitioners can do to avoid this except make sure that any proposed order submitted to the trial court recites the latest legal standards in the circuit. Perhaps you could request correction of an order after it is issued if it does not recite the correct standard and an objector is likely to appeal.

Photo of Wystan Ackerman Wystan Ackerman

I am a partner at the law firm of Robinson+Cole in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.  My contact information is on the contact page of my blog.  I really enjoy receiving questions, comments, suggestions and even criticism from readers.  So please e-mail me if you…

I am a partner at the law firm of Robinson+Cole in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.  My contact information is on the contact page of my blog.  I really enjoy receiving questions, comments, suggestions and even criticism from readers.  So please e-mail me if you have something to say.  For those looking for my detailed law firm bio, click here.  If you want a more light-hearted and hopefully more interesting summary, read on:

People often ask about my unusual first name, Wystan.  It’s pronounced WISS-ten.  It’s not Winston.  There is no “n” in the middle.  It comes from my father’s favorite poet, W.H. (Wystan Hugh) Auden.  I’ve grown to like the fact that because my name is unusual people tend to remember it better, even if they don’t pronounce it right (and there is no need for anyone to use my last name because I’m always the only Wystan).

I grew up in Deep River, Connecticut, a small town on the west side of the Connecticut River in the south central part of the state.  I’ve always had strong interests in history, politics and baseball.  My heroes growing up were Abraham Lincoln and Wade Boggs (at that time the third baseman for the Boston Red Sox).  I think it was my early fascination with Lincoln that drove me to practice law.  I went to high school at The Williams School in New London, Connecticut, where I edited the school newspaper, played baseball, and was primarily responsible for the installation of a flag pole near the school entrance (it seemed like every other school had one but until my class raised the money and bought one at my urging, Williams had no flag pole).  As a high school senior, my interest in history and politics led me to score high enough on a test of those subjects to be chosen as one of Connecticut’s two delegates to the U.S. Senate Youth Program, which further solidified my interest in law and government.  One of my mentors at Williams was of the view that there were far too many lawyers and I should find something more useful to do, but if I really had to be a lawyer there was always room for one more.  I eventually decided to be that “one more.”  I went on to Bowdoin College, where I wrote for the Bowdoin Orient and majored in government, but took a lot of math classes because I found college math interesting and challenging.  I then went to Columbia Law School, where I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the minions who spent their time fastidiously cite-checking and Blue booking hundred-plus-page articles in the Columbia Law Review.  I also interned in the chambers of then-Judge Sonia Sotomayor when she was a relatively new judge on the Second Circuit, my only connection to someone who now has one-ninth of the last word on what constitutes the law of our land.  I graduated from Columbia in 2001, then worked at Skadden Arps in Boston before returning to Connecticut and joining Robinson+Cole, one of the largest Connecticut-based law firms.  At the end of 2008, I was elected a partner at Robinson+Cole.

I’ve worked on class actions since the start of my career at Skadden.  Being in the insurance capital of Hartford, we have a national insurance litigation practice and I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work on some prominent class actions arising from the 2004 hurricanes in Florida and later Hurricane Katrina, including cases involving the applicability of the flood exclusion, statutes known as valued policy laws, and various other issues.  My interest and experience in class actions gradually led me to focus on that area.

In Connecticut courts I’ve defended various kinds of class actions that go beyond insurance, including cases involving products liability, securities, financial services and consumer contracts.

My insurance class action practice usually takes me outside of Connecticut.  I’ve had the pleasure of working on cases in various federal and state courts and collaborating with great lawyers across the country.  While class actions are an increasingly large part of my practice, I don’t do exclusively class action work.  The rest of my practice involves litigating insurance coverage cases, often at the appellate level.  That also frequently takes me outside of Connecticut.  A highlight of my career thus far was working on Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles, the U.S. Supreme Court’s first Class Action Fairness Act case.  I was Counsel of Record for Standard Fire on the cert petition, and had the pleasure of working with Ted Boutrous on the merits briefing and oral argument.

I started this blog because writing is one of my favorite things to do and I enjoy following developments in class action law, writing about them and engaging in discussion with others who have an in interest in this area.  It’s a welcome break from day-to-day practice, keeps me current, broadens my network and results in some new business.

When I’m not at my desk or flying around the country trying to save insurance companies from the plaintiffs’ bar, or attending a conference on class actions or insurance litigation (for more on those, see the Seminars/Programs page of this blog), I often can be found playing or reading with my young daughter, helping my wife with her real estate and mortgage businesses, reading a book about history or politics, or watching the Boston Red Sox (I managed to find bleacher seats for Game 2 of the 2004 World Series when Curt Schilling pitched with the bloody sock).  When the weather is good I also love to take the ferry to Block Island, Rhode Island and ride a bike or walk the trails there. If you go, I highly recommend the Clay Head Trail.