THE SEARCH FOR THE POT OF GOLD: Fluid Class Recovery As A Consumer Remedy In Antitrust Cases

Of all the innovations spawned by the actions inundating the federal courts1 since the amendment of Rule 23, 2 probably none is more controversial than the so-called fluid class recovery. Simply stated, the idea is that, in a consumer action claiming damages for overcharges resulting from price fixing or the like, damages should be computed in a gross amount for the entire class; shares of the damage fund should then be distributed to those members who can prove valid claims; and the remainder is then made available to the at large in some manner calculated to benefit the injured consumers and, at the very least, deprive the wrong-doers of the fruits of their wrongdoing.