Domain Name Wire

Lawyer: SnapNames Class Action Headed to State Court

Lawyers plan to take case to state court.

The lawyers that filed a lawsuit in federal district court against Snapnames and Oversee.net over the ‘Halvarez’ scandal and later dismissed the case say it’s not over yet.

“It was really just a procedural move,” said Michael Aschenbrener, lead attorney on the case for Edelson McGuire LLC, commenting on why the case was dismissed.

Aschenbrener said they might have an easier time filing the case in state court. The case hit a roadblock because of class action rules that require the money involved in the case to be $5 million in federal district court. That requirement doesn’t exist in state court, Aschenbrener explained.

After the suit was filed, Oversee.net represented that U.S. customers lost less than $1 million due to the ‘halvarez’ bids. Worldwide losses are likely around $2 million.

It is somewhat unusual for a class action to be filed against a company that has already admitted wrong doing and has offered compensation to customers.

“This case is unique in that Oversee and SnapNames took corrective action,” said Aschenbrener. “Our perspective is those were great first steps but a bit more needs to be done to fully compensate customers and restore confidence.”

According to Oversee.net, about half of the money owed to U.S. customers has already been claimed. Aschenbrener said customers who accepted Oversee.net’s compensation offer would likely not be part of the class since they have already released SnapNames of liability.

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Related posts:

1. SnapNames Class Action Lawsuit Dismissed
2. Judge Says SnapNames Lawsuit Might be Too Small for Class Action
3. Second Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Oversee.net and SnapNames

Tags: oversee.net, Policy & Law, snapnames