According to an attorney present at the September 12 hearing, Judge Hamilton stated that she had incomplete information on how the cy pres funds would be rewarded.

FORBES: Update: Judge Rejects Settlement in Ben & Jerry's "Natural" Class Action

The ruling is a powerful rebuke of the so-called cy pres doctrine, a legal theory that has sprung up, despite dubious academic credentials, to deal with an intractable problem with class actions: Unclaimed funds.

FORBES: Court Rejects AOL Settlement Over Questionable Charity Awards

The plaintiffs devoted a lengthy footnote (n. 6) in their proposed settlement explaining why their cy pres proposal was not disconnected from the misleading advertising claims, as the appeals court found in Kellogg (there, Kellogg products were to be donated to a food bank).

FORBES: Update: Judge Rejects Settlement in Ben & Jerry's "Natural" Class Action

Their argument, the court said, conflated two basic legal principles, first that the court must approve a settlement for fairness, and second that cy pres awards, must be given to groups that offer a reasonable substitute for the absent plaintiffs.

FORBES: Court Rejects AOL Settlement Over Questionable Charity Awards

If a suitable cy pres beneficiary cannot be located, the district court should consider escheating the funds to the United States Treasury.

FORBES: Court Rejects AOL Settlement Over Questionable Charity Awards

If fashioning an open-ended, one-sentence mission statement is all it takes top earn cy pres settlement approval in our court, we have completely eviscerated the meaning of our previously controlling case law.

FORBES: Appeals Court OKs Facebook Settlement That Pays Lawyers And `Bespoke' Charity

Cy pres is an acceptable alternative to paying money to people actually involved in the case, the court said, but the amount given to unrelated charities should serve to reduce the pot used to calculate fees.

FORBES: Court Rejects $14 Million Fee For Lawyers, $3 Million For Their Clients

The Ninth Circuit has been taking a more vigilant stance toward class actions in recent years, especially where lawyers try to steer money toward unrelated charities in so-called cy pres distributions or where there are questions about whether plaintiff lawyers colluded with the defense to negotiate a fee at the expense of their clients.

FORBES: Ninth Circuit Tosses Experian Settlement, Chides Lawyers Over Conflict