Settlement administrator

The third party that runs claims and pays out.

Once a settlement is approved, a court-appointed administrator notifies class members, processes claim forms and distributes payments. The emails and postcards people receive come from them.

This is also why so many legitimate notices look like spam. Check the case name against the court docket rather than trusting the design of the email.

Related terms

• Class action - One lawsuit brought on behalf of everyone harmed the same way.
• Class representative - The named person who stands in for the whole class.
• Class certification - The court ruling that lets one case speak for everyone.
• Arbitration clause - Contract language sending disputes to a private forum instead of court.
• Class-action waiver - A term saying you may only bring a claim for yourself, never as a group.
• Unconscionability - A contract term so one-sided a court refuses to enforce it.
• Contract of adhesion - A take-it-or-leave-it contract with no room to negotiate.
• Assent - Whether you actually agreed, and how the company proved it.