I’ve not always been kind to Ted Frank, one of the founding fathers the Martin Van Buren of Overlawyered.  Then again, Ted hasn’t always been kind to lawyers, being a bit lopsided (from my remove) of those who represent the harmed, maimed, injured and dead at the hands of corporate America.  

But when I received notice of a class action settlement recently, and read through it twice without having the slightest clue what was in it for the class, I turned to Ted.  Ted created the Center for Class Action Fairness,  It was born of his antipathy toward what he saw as meritless lawsuits and the inclination of plaintiffs lawyers to bring class actions to extort a fee, and the absence of any incentive for class members to object to settlements that benefited the lawyers and did little or nothing for the class.

CCAF hopes to change this by giving consumers another option: object, with a lawyer standing behind them to explain to a court why the law doesn’t permit such an extortionate settlement that fails to benefit consumers.

By letting courts know that consumers are watching them, they’ll be less likely to rubber-stamp bad settlements. If bad settlements aren’t approved, then trial lawyers will be unable to profit off of bad cases. Without the promise of profit, the bad cases won’t be brought. And we’ll all be better off.

The CCAF is a non-profit, where Ted represents, pro bono, class members who want to know why the lawyers are being paid $67 gazillion while each class member gets a coupon for $1.12 out of the settlement.  It’s a good question.

Being a lawyer, I figured that I could discern the gist of the deal by reading the notices, and most of the time, I can.  This time, I couldn’t.  Not a clue.  So I asked Ted.  Despite our having gone at it a few times, Ted responded almost immediately, with clear and informative information that explained what I missed.  His knowledge was both impressive and appreciated. 

Ted has gone on a new adventure, starting the TSA Abuse Blog, where he is marshaling the deluge of information, news reports and anecdotes that have seized the national consciousness over the past month.  In his welcoming post, dated less than a week ago, Ted writes:

I have nothing against effective airport security. But that’s not what we have: rather, we have security theater. The requirement of shoe removal and the bans on carrying liquids onto planes are insults to the American public that serve no conceivable purpose other than to lull the public into a false sense of security.  And the TSA has gone even further, with virtual strip-searches (exposing passengers not just to the loss of dignity, but to radiation with uncertain health effects) and offensive pat-down groping. You can shout about the underwear bomber all you want, but TSA didn’t stop the underwear bomber, and the new detection mechanisms wouldn’t do so, either. On September 11, 2001, the dynamic changed, and passengers learned that they were the last line of defense against terrorists in airplanes. And every terror attack on an American passenger jet since the first three hijackings of September 11 has been stopped by American plane passengers, not by the TSA.

Ted doesn’t concern himself with this because it’s the newest, hottest topic and will bring him eyeballs to sell toaster ovens or legal services.  As is so often the case, it’s because it touched him.

My name is Ted Frank. I’ve visited the White House and stood within five feet of a president without anyone needing to stick their hands down my waistband, but that is not good enough for the TSA. I’ve wasted hours of my life standing in lines created by pointless TSA procedures; I’ve been groped by TSA officials; I even missed a flight once because I was pulled aside for a punitive TSA pat-down after I’d been waved through security because I dared to complain that the TSA X-ray operator was spending time joking around instead of inspecting baggage at a rate faster than one bag a minute.  And enough is enough.

Since November 21st, Ted has put 57 58 (a new post went up as I was typing this one) posts up.  While the TSA had the  good sense to shut off most of the full body scanners on National Opt-Out Day, making it a complete botch since there was nothing to opt out of, the problem has not abated and the policy has not changed.  The expectation is likely that our initial negative reaction will fade as people find other problems more pressing and turn their attention elsewhere.

Ted Frank may not hold the same views of plaintiffs lawyers that I do, but he is an individual who puts his efforts where his beliefs are for the betterment of others.  I’m still not giving Ted a free ride on his views of personal injury law, but I admire the heck out of what he’s doing on the class action front and now on TSA abuse.

And I just wanted to thank Ted for his help.