Cy Pres for Class Action Leftovers

Stephen Gardner, the director of litigation for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, has a long thoughtful post about the use of cy pres in class actions. What is cy pres? When some part of the award can't be distributed to all the class members (e.g., because some of them can't be located), courts often use their equitable powers and distribute the funds to charities. Cy pres: Boon or Benefit?, Consumer Law & Policy Blog, Nov. 28, 2007.

His post is in response to Adam Liptak, Doling Out Other People’s Money, N.Y. Times, Nov. 26, 2007, which quotes several critics of cy pres.