Tag Archives: appeals

Racing for a Win in the Courtroom

They’re not horsing around

In the aftermath of perhaps one of the largest upsets in horse racing history, the owners of the would-be triumphant horse, Maximum Security, filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Frankfort, KY.  Those who did not tune into the 145th Kentucky Derby on May 4 missed a historically controversial event.  Maximum Security allegedly interfered with other horses during part of the race, and as a result, two jockeys challenged the victory.  After a prolonged and careful review of the entire race, the three stewards decided that Maximum Security did impede the momentum of other horses.  With Maximum Security’s disqualification, the second place finisher, Country House, was announced as the winner of the Derby.  Although this was a heartbreaking loss for the otherwise undefeated Maximum Security, his owners, Gary and Mary West, are not accepting the defeat without a fight. Continue reading →

What Happens to Unused Class Action Settlement Money?

Justice

We often hear about bigtime class action settlements, the ones with millions of dollars set up in trusts and application processes to benefit from.  Like the $325 million Apple antenna lawsuit, or the recent $3 million Nutella settlement.  In these types of settlements, the number of people affected by them (the “class”) is unknown, so the settlement money is put into a fund and a time period is given in which class members can sign up to receive some of the money from that fund.  The total settlement award that we read about in the papers, however, is actually an upper bound.  That’s the limit — once it’s reached, it’s hard cheese for any more people who want to benefit.  Very rarely is the full amount given out.  More often, the upper bound is not reached and some money is left sitting in the trust.  What happens to this money?

Read more to see the answer to that clearly rhetorical question