Edited release
07/30/25
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced her office has filed an objection to the proposed settlement in a class-action lawsuit in which lawyers would receive $9 million while consumers, including Iowans, would receive nothing.
A class of plaintiffs sued Charles Schwab, a retail brokerage, after it purchased TD Ameritrade. The plaintiffs claimed the purchase violated antitrust laws, asked for significant damages, and demanded that the sale be reversed. In this settlement, however, class members—that is, Schwab’s customers, which includes Iowans—receive nothing. Instead, Schwab will pay three named plaintiffs $5,050 each, pay a group of lawyers for “antitrust monitoring,” and pay the plaintiffs lawyers fees and costs of $9 million.
In a release from her office, Bird said, “It’s not right or fair. Fees are supposed to be based on what lawyers win for their clients. These lawyers won nothing, so they should be paid nothing until a better deal is cut. No deal is better than this deal.”