WEST PALM BEACH – Liggio Law is giving back to the community with several donations to charitable organizations in Florida from leftover settlement awards recovered in class action suits.
Through two class action lawsuits, Liggio Law has donated a significant amount of money to nonprofits that offer free legal services as well as community organizations that help those in need.
“I’m just having a ball,” said Jeffrey Liggio, managing partner at Liggio Law told the Florida Record. “I’m so tickled to be able to do this. There are the good guys, and they represent the unfortunate members of our society that have nowhere to turn.”
In a 2014 class action suit against GM for improper safety ratings on its 2014 Cadillac CTS sedan, $220,000 was left over after several attempts were made to reach class members over a one-year period. The money was donated to the Broward County School Fund, in light of the Parkland shooting, Palm Beach Legal Aid, and the Florida Justice Association Charitable Fund.
A second case had a larger windfall with a $4 million leftover class action distribution. The case involved Heritage Propane and misleading customer contracts for propane use and maintenance. The class action lasted 12 years and took up to eight months to distribute settlement awards.
Liggio Law distributed the leftover settlement money from the case to Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Three Rivers Legal Services and Clay County Legal Services. Money was also provided to The Florida Bar Association. An additional $1 million was provided to the local Salvation Army.
The donations are a typical way to handle leftover settlement money in a class action, according to Liggio. “It’s fairly common among lawyers that do things correctly,” he said.
Although each case varies, Liggio said there is no set time limit to end the distribution of funds in a class action suit.
“It’s just when the professional folks say we’ve done everything we can to deliver the money and this is what is left," he said. "Then you got to report that to the judge.”