In a Class Action lawsuit brought and prosecuted by Zebersky Payne Shaw Lewenz, LLP, we were able to secure a cy pres recovery for some of the monies that were owed by the Defendant. As part of the settlement, Zebersky Payne Shaw Lewenz, LLP requested that this amount be paid to help the citizens of Broward County by making the cy pre award to Legal Aid Service of Broward County.
The term cy pres is derived from a French phrase meaning “as near as.” When class actions are settled or tried, there are times that it’s not possible to distribute all of the money recovered to some or all of the class members. They may be difficult to identify or find or it may not be economically feasible to distribute the funds to them. (For example, the cost of distributing 50 cents to each of 6 million class members may preclude individual distribution, even though the defendant has been held accountable for cheating the class out of $3 million.) When that is so, the cy pres doctrine allows the funds to be distributed to a nonprofit charitable organization to support work that indirectly benefits the class and advances the public interest.
Now the cy pres award secured by Zebersky Payne Shaw Lewenz, LLP, will be used to help the victims of domestic violence, unfair landlords and others who prey upon the unrepresented in Broward County.