THE NEW YORK BAR FOUNDATION RECEIVES
$17,500 IN CLASS-ACTION SETTLEMENT
Truth-in-Lending Act award supplements $1M in cy
pres grants administered by the Foundation
The New York Bar Foundation has been awarded $17,500 in leftover
proceeds from a class-action lawsuit to distribute to law-related
charities around the state.
Judge P. Kevin Castel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York recently signed an order authorizing a cy
pres distribution to the Bar Foundation, the philanthropic arm of
the New York State Bar Association.
The award represents a financial distribution from the case of
Charles Milo v. Barney’s Inc. (10-CV-3133), in which a
Barney’s customer alleged the retailer violated the Truth in
Lending Act by not clearly listing the standard annual percentage rate
on applications for Barney’s New York credit cards.
The Bar Foundation will use the money to fund charitable and
educational projects that meet the law-related needs of the public and
legal profession.
“Settlements such as the Charles Milo v. Barney’s
fund expand grant opportunities for the Foundation to support more
projects and residents throughout the state,” said Foundation
President Cristine Cioffi of Schenectady (Cioffi, Slezak, Wildgrube).
“We are pleased to receive this distribution to assist and oversee
law-related charitable work in New York.”
Cy pres is a legal term used to describe an alternate
appropriate use for unclaimed funds that remain after the proceeds from
a class action settlement are distributed among the members of the
class. This is the fifth cy pres settlement the Foundation has
been awarded in the past four years.
“The Foundation is honored to be entrusted with these funds,
which it will distribute to worthy law-related charities to continue
their good works,” said Lesley Rosenthal of New York City (Lincoln
Center for the Performing Arts), chair of the Cy Pres Committee
of The Foundation.
Read
the full news release here.
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