Ford Settles Explorer Lawsuit: Owners Get Discount, Lawyers $25m
“We are satisfied with the judge’s decision,” Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley told Reuters. “We feel that although the case is without merit and we proved that in court, we also believe the settlement is right for our customers.” Well duh. Some 800k Ford owners and lessees file a class-action lawsuit against the Blue Oval Boyz for lost value– due to the whole Firestone/Explorer rollover deal– and FoMoCo gives them a discount towards the purchase of a new Ford. We’re talking certificates good for $500 off a new Explorer, or $300 off any other Ford, Mercury or Lincoln product. Oh, and the plaintiffs’ lawyers get $25m. Hang on. Say half of those people buy a new Ford. Excluding Ford’s own legal fees (which are probably part of their normal overhead) and the discount itself (as usual), the marketing cost for those “disgruntled customers'” sales will cost Ford just $62.50 each. Given the money to be made on trade-ins and re-financing… Call me crazy, but this class action lawsuit thing sounds a genuine business opportunity. [props to Cammy Corrigan for the link]
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Let's see. The judge was a member of the bar. The plaintiffs lawyers were members of the bar. Even the defendants lawyers were members of the bar. The laws they argued over were written by the state and national legislators - also mostly members of the bar. I didn't check wiki, but I suspect this is the description used to explain the old saw about foxes in charge of the hen house. This country will be greatly improved when we break the bars' monopoly on legal matters.
It was a dumb lawsuit. The consumers got what they deserved - a good snub by their "concerned" lawyers. When will Americans learn that it isn't about the consumer - it's about the lawyers' pocketbooks? If the case was truly winnable, the class-action lawyers would have taken it to court and won real, hard money. Settling is only done when the plantiff can't win but the defendant doesn't want a drawn out, expensive and potentially negative trial.
Ford gets points for chutzpah, I suppose.
One of GM's largest expenses is litigation. Imagine a world without lawyers...