The Toyota sudden-acceleration settlement would pay the plaintiffs attorneys $200 million. For plaintiff Henry Senatore, that brings to mind the John Grisham novel The Litigators.

"As a class member there is little else of value to me — the pool of ‘Finley, Figg & Zinc’ type legal firms appear to be suckling at the bar on this case, leaving just crumbs for the class," he complained recently. "It’s quite distasteful to need to be a member of the class in this obvious attempt to milk Toyota."