You can only demand more by refusing to join, then suing independently from the class action. Opting out without following up with your own lawsuit is just dividing the settlement up among fewer people without having any impact on what the company is paying out. The settlement is already $177m; why would AT&T care if it gets divided among 100 people or 100,000,000?
If there arent enough people to sign up, the settlement wont be large enough for the law firm to bother pursuing a small settlement. If enough people only signed up for these if the firm was willing to seek actual punitive damages, theyd have to do that if they wanted the case at all.
If the firm is only going to get 100 people to sign on, ATT wouldnt agree to a $177m settlement in the first place. “So a mass movement to force a fundamental shift in this system? that’ll never happen” - Im trying to point out that we’re the ones enabling the system to fail us as consumers, and we collectively have the power to force law firms to seek higher settlements (or actually try to win cases), which would deter companies from cutting so many corners when it comes to our private data.
They haven’t even contacted the people eligible yet, but already have the $177m figure. The vast majority of people who are part of these class actions aren’t involved (or often aware) until after the settlement is agreed upon. It’s based on how many people were potentially impacted, not who signed up. Your main premise is bunk.
You can only demand more by refusing to join, then suing independently from the class action. Opting out without following up with your own lawsuit is just dividing the settlement up among fewer people without having any impact on what the company is paying out. The settlement is already $177m; why would AT&T care if it gets divided among 100 people or 100,000,000?
If there arent enough people to sign up, the settlement wont be large enough for the law firm to bother pursuing a small settlement. If enough people only signed up for these if the firm was willing to seek actual punitive damages, theyd have to do that if they wanted the case at all.
If the firm is only going to get 100 people to sign on, ATT wouldnt agree to a $177m settlement in the first place. “So a mass movement to force a fundamental shift in this system? that’ll never happen” - Im trying to point out that we’re the ones enabling the system to fail us as consumers, and we collectively have the power to force law firms to seek higher settlements (or actually try to win cases), which would deter companies from cutting so many corners when it comes to our private data.
They haven’t even contacted the people eligible yet, but already have the $177m figure. The vast majority of people who are part of these class actions aren’t involved (or often aware) until after the settlement is agreed upon. It’s based on how many people were potentially impacted, not who signed up. Your main premise is bunk.