Judicial introspection on class action settlements

Courtesy of CAFALawBlog comes In re Relafen Antitrust Litigation (D. Mass. Sept. 28, 2005) (pdf), a long opinion approving a class action settlement (with a consumer component based on consumer loss due to SmithKline's patent activities that increased the price of Relafen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) but with an appendix decrying the rise of settlements and the corresponding demise of the jury trial. Comprehensive and full of statistics and discussions of academics' critiques of the state of the judiciary, it's well worth a read.