Lawyers scorned by a judge who approved the $1.4 billion Equifax settlement last month fired back, defending themselves and their profession representing objectors to class actions.

In his Jan. 13 order approving the Equifax deal, U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash Jr. of the Northern District of Georgia took the opportunity to chastise many of the objector lawyers, specifically mentioning previous instances in which other judges had criticized the same lawyers. He rejected all the objections.

At least two the objector lawyers have sought to amend the judgment to exclude the personal attacks against them, and four others, including prominent class action critic Ted Frank, have filed notices to appeal Thrash's order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.