LONDON?A British court says hundreds of people who received chemical burns from leather sofas will share 20 million pounds, or about $30 million, in compensation. The customers took legal action after claiming of skin and eye complaints or breathing difficulties from the Chinese-made furniture, dubbed ³toxic sofas.² The problems were blamed on dimethyl fumarate, a fungicide designed to stop the furniture from becoming mouldy. The European Union banned the chemical last year. Lawyers told a judge at London¹s High Court on Monday that agreement had been reached between the plaintiffs and a company that owns several furniture retailers. It will see 1,650 victims receive up to 9,000 pounds, or about $14,000, apiece. Legal action continues in 3,000 other cases.
OT: (Not really) Yummy Chinese furniture.
Apr 26, 2010
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Wonder how much the lawyers get. Ever notice the press rarely shares that information?
Between one third and one half.
In this case, all one has to do is read the article. :)
A 20,000,000 Sterling settlement, with 1650 victims at 9,000 sterling ea. That's a 14.8 million Sterling distribution. Presumably the other 5+ million Sterling is going to the lawyers.
The victims look to be getting 3x what the lawyers are. That's a better ratio than a lot of U.S. cases.
Oh, yeah, there's a prime example of yet another ambulance chasing scumbag lawyer, frivolous law suit (did I mention LIBERAL scumbag lawyer?). In the U.S., normal attorney compensation is a third, sometimes 40%. It could also be that the attorney(s) took the case on a contingency basis; the lawyers are covering all the expenses in taking the case and if they lose, they get nothing.
Dave in Houston
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