Michael Valerio and Yung Hao Chang v. Boise Cascade Corporation

In May, 1973, the district court approved a class action settlement in McCubbrey v. Boise Cascade Home & Land Corporation, N.D.Cal., 71 F.R.D. 62 . That litigation, arising out of the sale of recreational real properties by Boise Cascade, involved a class of 44,000 plaintiffs as well as the California Attorney General and several county district attorneys. Although Valer-io and Chang elected to participate in the settlement finally hammered out in that complex litigation, they now seek to overturn it and reopen the settled claims, and further seek recovery from the class attorneys including the Attorney General. They argue, inter alia, that the notice of proposed settlement and the representation provided by counsel to the class were constitutionally inadequate and that the court’s approval of the settlement was obtained by fraud on the court. They argue further that the class attorneys are liable for fraud and malpractice. The district court granted defendants’ summary judgment motions and we affirm.

I. Jurisdiction.

The district court had jurisdiction over the state law claims against the class attorneys. The court had jurisdiction over plaintiffs’ claims of fraud on the court…