Section 17203

Citation: Section 17203
Parent Document: Kraus v. Trinity Management Services, Inc., 999 P.2d 718 (2000)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 2000-06-05
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1159700/kraus-v-trinity-management-serv... ↗

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This court first cautioned that "[t]he propriety of fluid recovery in a particular case depends upon its usefulness in fulfilling the purposes of the underlying cause of action. [Citations.] Fluid recovery may be essential to ensure that the policies of disgorgement or deterrence are realized. [Citation.] Without fluid recovery, defendants may be permitted to retain ill gotten gains simply because their conduct harmed large numbers of people in small amounts instead of small numbers of people in large amounts." (Levi Strauss, supra, 41 Cal.3d at p. 472, 224 Cal.Rptr. 605, 715 P.2d 564.) We then reviewed the various alternative means of distributing damages recovered in consumer class actions  price rollbacks, earmarked escheat, general escheat, consumer trust fund, and division among the individual claimants  noting that the choice was within the sound discretion of the trial court. We emphasized that, in *499 selecting the fluid recovery procedure, a court should consider "(1) the amount of compensation provided to class members, including nonclaiming (or `silent') members; (2) the proportion of class members sharing in the recovery; (3) the extent to which benefits will `spill over' to nonclass members and the degree to which the spillover benefits will effectuate the purposes of the underlying substantive law; and (4) the costs of administration." (Id. at p. 473, 224 Cal.Rptr. 605, 715 P.2d 564.)

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