For the past nine years, CalBizLit.com has tracked the Proposition 65 settlements posted on the Attorney General’s web site to determine, and publicize, the high, low and average settlement amounts paid to private party enforcers, their attorneys and OEHHA as settlements. CBL has been running a bit behind, but now, thanks to the analysis by Bruce Nye’s colleague Jade Jurdi, CBL is able to publish the 2016 numbers.
As CBL has done in the past, we scrutinized the settlement to get the most reliable average numbers. The AG’s reporting can be seen in detail here (consent judgments) and here (out of court settlements). But as is usually the case, the AG, based on reporting, often treats consent judgment settlements involving multiple companies as if they only involved one, which skews the averages, so we have once again done our best to fix that.
We’ve seen several changes just since 2015. In 2015, 35 private party enforcers reported settlements, with an average settlement amount of $31,121. In 2016, the number of private party enforcers reporting settlements increased to 42, and the average reported settlement was $38,770. Also, the percentage of settlements allocated to attorneys fees has risen some – from 68% in 2015 to 72% in 2016. New regulations from the Attorney General effectively took “payments in lieu of penalties” – payments that don’t have to be split with OEHHA – out of consent judgments. Surprisingly, the average payment in lieu of penalty only decreased from 13% to 10%.
This time around, we also tracked the difference between average consent judgment settlements and average out of court settlements. Consent judgments provide slightly more post-settlement protection to settling companies, and have always been more expensive. In 2016, the average out of court settlement was $28,726, while the average consent judgment settlement was $46,361!
The overall average numbers for the bounty hunters and their lawyers are here (note if you double click the image, it pops out and becomes more legible):
Comments