Lawyers Need to Differentiate Emailed Class Notice from Spam, Trask Tells The American Lawyer

Fake or real? Consumers are having a tough time determining the legitimacy of email class action settlement notifications according to Law.com, analyzing a U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report.

“Consumers and Class Actions: A Retrospective and Analysis of Settlement Campaigns,” found using emails to notify class members about settlements resulted in less engagement from class members.

Law.com interviewed Shook Of Counsel Andrew Trask, who focuses his practice on the defense of class action and complex litigation in a variety of industries including automotive and financial services.  He has co-authored several books on class actions and testified before Congress on potential class action reforms.

“It may be more difficult to distinguish legitimate emailed class notices from Nigerian princes or Microsoft chain mails,” he informed the publication.

A law professor questioned whether the industry should “go further down that path” of using emails when they are so easily ignored.

The FTC will take public comment through November 22, 2019.