Task: songer_numappel

What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals.
Intervenors who participated as parties at the courts of appeals should be counted as either appellants or respondents when it can be determined whose position they supported. For example, if there were two plaintiffs who lost in district court, appealed, and were joined by four intervenors who also asked the court of appeals to reverse the district court, the number of appellants should be coded as six.
In some cases there is some confusion over who should be listed as the appellant and who as the respondent. This confusion is primarily the result of the presence of multiple docket numbers consolidated into a single appeal that is disposed of by a single opinion. Most frequently, this occurs when there are cross appeals and/or when one litigant sued (or was sued by) multiple litigants that were originally filed in district court as separate actions. The coding rule followed in such cases should be to go strictly by the designation provided in the title of the case. The first person listed in the title as the appellant should be coded as the appellant even if they subsequently appeared in a second docket number as the respondent and regardless of who was characterized as the appellant in the opinion.
To clarify the coding conventions, consider the following hypothetical case in which the US Justice Department sues a labor union to strike down a racially discriminatory seniority system and the corporation (siding with the position of its union) simultaneously sues the government to get an injunction to block enforcement of the relevant civil rights law. From a district court decision that consolidated the two suits and declared the seniority system illegal but refused to impose financial penalties on the union, the corporation appeals and the government and union file cross appeals from the decision in the suit brought by the government. Assume the case was listed in the Federal Reporter as follows:
United States of America,
Plaintiff, Appellant
v
International Brotherhood of Widget Workers,AFL-CIO
Defendant, Appellee.
International Brotherhood of Widget Workers,AFL-CIO
Defendants, Cross-appellants
v
United States of America.
Widgets, Inc. & Susan Kuersten Sheehan, President & Chairman
of the Board
Plaintiff, Appellants,
v
United States of America,
Defendant, Appellee.
This case should be coded as follows:Appellant = United States, Respondents = International Brotherhood of Widget Workers Widgets, Inc., Total number of appellants = 1, Number of appellants that fall into the category "the federal government, its agencies, and officials" = 1, Total number of respondents = 3, Number of respondents that fall into the category "private business and its executives" = 2, Number of respondents that fall into the category "groups and associations" = 1.
Your specific task is to determine the total number of appellants in the case. If the total number cannot be determined (e.g., if the appellant is listed as "Smith, et. al." and the opinion does not specify who is included in the "et.al."), then answer 99.

H ARLINGTON WOOD, Jr., Circuit Judge.
In 1976 the defendant, General Motors (GM), began substituting engines produced by its Chevrolet Division in many of the 1977 model year cars produced by its Oldsmobile Division. The discovery of the engine switch culminated in the commencement of a plethora of lawsuits against GM in the state and federal courts. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred those actions which had been filed in the federal courts to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for consolidated pretrial proceedings with several actions which were already pending there. See 28 U.S.C. § 1407. The district court certified that the actions could be maintained as a class action and later approved the settlement of the actions as to one of two subclasses of Oldsmobile purchasers.
This appeal is from the order of the district court approving the subclass settlement. Although the facts are lengthy, the litigation’s history complex, and the resolution of the issues difficult, the issues may be stated with relative simplicity:
First, is the district court’s order approving the subclass settlement appealable?
Second, should counsel prosecuting the appeal be limited to representing the interests of those class members who objected to the settlement before the district court?
Third, did the district court err by refusing to permit appellants’ counsel to inquire into the conduct of the negotiations that led to the settlement?
Fourth, did the district court err by dismissing with prejudice the federal claims of those class members who declined to release their state law claims pursuant to the settlement agreement?
We find that this court does have jurisdiction to entertain the appeal and hold that the trial court erred in approving the subclass settlement. Consequently, we reverse and remand the order of the district court with instructions.
I. Facts
A. The Engine Interchange Litigation
Beginning in 1974, GM planners began considering the manufacturing requirements for GM cars for the 1977 model year. By 1976 various GM management committees began planning for extensive interdivisional engine exchanges. Because the Chevrolet Division had a significant surplus production capacity, GM planners decided to rely on Chevrolet produced engines to meet part of the engine requirements of GM’s Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac Divisions.
To institute the engine interchange in the Oldsmobile Division, GM used codes to identify the different engines that would be used in its 1977 Oldsmobiles. The Rocket 350 V-8 engine, produced by Oldsmobile, for example, was given the code name “L34”; the Chevrolet engine used in place of the Rocket was given the code “LM1.” Moreover, GM, over some objections by the Chevrolet Division, decided to adopt a common engine color for all of its engines. Thus, the distinctive red Chevrolet engine became blue. Despite the planned Oldsmobile-Chevrolet engine change, GM’s advertising, EPA gas mileage disclosures and communications to Oldsmobile dealers referred to the changes by the use of the codes.
The switch from standard components to different components in Oldsmobiles was not confined to engines. GM used different components than it had used in previous years for other parts of the power train (the engine, transmission, and drive axle) in some of its Oldsmobiles. For reasons which do not appear with clarity in the record, GM decided in 1976 to install in all 1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88 coupes and sedans the THM 200 transmission instead of the THM 350, the transmission traditionally used in those cars. The THM 200, like the THM 350, is produced by GM’s Turbohydramatic Division. The THM 200, originally designed for use in the subcompact Chevette, was used in all 1977 Delta 88 coupes and sedans regardless of whether they contained Oldsmobile or Chevrolet engines. The appellants maintain that GM’s advertising materials nevertheless indicated that the THM 350 was standard equipment in all 1977 Deltas.
The case before this court is a subset of the Oldsmobile litigation spawned by the discovery of the engine interchange. After filing suit in the Cook County Circuit Court alleging violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 121%, §§ 261-272, the Illinois Attorney General filed suit in the federal court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of the State of Illinois, which had purchased a 1977 Oldsmobile with a Chevrolet engine, and more than 100 other Oldsmobile purchasers. The complaint alleged that the sale of the Oldsmobiles without disclosure of their engine source violated the Magnuson-Moss Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 2301-2312, and sought certification of the action as a nationwide class action. The Oswald and Miller actions were later brought to the federal district court and consolidated with the State of Illinois action before Judge McGarr. Upon GM’s petition, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred seven actions then pending in other federal courts to the Northern District for consolidated pretrial proceedings.
On July 22, 1977, the district court entered an order adopting an agreement of the numerous counsel for the plaintiffs in the consolidated cases. The order created an executive committee of six attorneys to represent the plaintiffs in all pretrial proceedings. See generally Manual for Complex Litigation §§ 1.92-1.93. Although the committee was given broad power in the pretrial proceedings, the order provided that the committee could conduct settlement negotiations only with the consent of all counsel for the named plaintiffs.
On October 13, 1977, the district court certified the consolidated cases as a class action. The order defined the class as “[a]ll persons... who purchased 1977 Oldsmobile automobiles which without their knowledge or consent, contained V-8 engines manufactured by the Chevrolet Motor Division... ” The court dismissed all federal claims except the Magnuson-Moss claim and declined to exercise its power to take pendent jurisdiction over the related state law claims. The trial court recognized that parallel state court actions were pending, but rejected GM’s position that the state proceedings should prevent class certification on the Magnuson-Moss claim. Despite the certification of the class, no notice to class members was mailed to inform them of the pendency of the class action at that time.
B. The Settlement
Sometime during the fall of 1977, General Motors entered into settlement negotiations with representatives of the various state Attorneys General who had filed or were contemplating filing actions against GM. A representative of the Illinois Attorney General who was also a member of the executive committee participated in the negotiations without leave of the district court or other counsel for the plaintiffs in the federal class action. On December 13, 1977, one of the counsel for the plaintiffs received word that a tentative settlement agreement had been reached by GM and the Attorneys General. The attorney, in essence, requested the district court to order immediate disclosure of the progress of the settlement negotiations or any agreements that had been reached. The trial court, however, regarded the motion as premature. Unwilling to interfere with communications between GM and the Attorneys General before an agreement was reached, the district court declined to order the requested relief. The trial judge remarked that he believed he had sufficient power over the approval of any settlement to protect the interests of class members.
Six days later on December 19, the Illinois Attorney General in his capacity as one of the class counsel moved that the district court consider the settlement agreement between GM and all but five of the fifty state Attorneys General. The proposed settlement provided that GM would provide to each consumer who had purchased a 1977 Oldsmobile, Buick or Pontiac equipped with a Chevrolet engine on or before April 10, 1977, $200 plus a 36-month or 36,000-mile extended warranty on the power train. In return each purchaser would be required to sign a release of all state and federal claims concerning the substitution of engines, components, parts, and assemblies in the car. GM also agreed to disclose the source of all engines of new GM cars for the next three years. The Attorneys General, in turn, promised to secure dismissals with prejudice of all actions prosecuted by them.
The district court showed itself willing to consider the agreement as a basis for settling the class action. Although the court afforded private counsel time to conduct discovery to determine whether the settlement was fair, it denied the motion of some of plaintiffs’ counsel for discovery into the negotiations between the Attorneys General and GM. The court maintained that the negotiation process was irrelevant to the central issue of the fairness of the settlement.
Furthermore, the district court entertained GM’s motion to redefine the class to include only those Oldsmobile purchasers to whom the settlement agreement contemplated payment. The class originally included all 1977 Oldsmobile purchasers who bought their cars before October 13, 1977, without knowledge that the cars had Chevrolet engines. The settlement agreement contemplated narrowing the class to purchasers before April 11, 1977. In an order dated March 14, 1978, the trial court denied GM’s motion to redefine and narrow the class. The court did, however, designate “for purposes of sending the settlement notice” a subclass of pre-April 11 purchasers. Notices informing class members of the pendency of the class action were sent out shortly thereafter. The notice to settlement subclass members, in addition to informing them of the pendency of the action, informed them of the proposed settlement and gave them the opportunity, inter alia, to opt-out of the action or to object to the proposed settlement. The notice to class members not in the settlement subclass merely provided notice of the action and the opportunity to opt-out.
In May 1978, pursuant to its authority under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(e), the district court held a fairness hearing to determine whether it should approve the settlement. Because some of the private counsel objected to the settlement, the hearing was contested and lasted twelve days. The order of proof was irregular. Both sides submitted numerous exhibits. The plaintiff-objectors presented, among others, several 1977 Oldsmobile owners who objected to the settlement and two mechanics who testified that the substituted power train was inferior to the one GM allegedly warranted. GM relied largely on exhibits and the testimony of a Chevrolet staff engineer who testified that the power trains warranted and those provided were comparable.
On July 17, 1978, after considering post-hearing memoranda of the various sides in the litigation, the district court entered an order approving the subclass settlement as fair. Adopting GM’s proposed findings of fact almost verbatim, the district court found that the engines and other parts included in the Oldsmobiles were “comparable” to those warranted. Resolving most of the other contested issues in favor of GM, the district court ordered the action dismissed as to all members of the subclass and directed GM to send an approved notice of settlement to each member of the subclass. Before the notice could be mailed, however, some of the plaintiff-objectors prosecuted this appeal.
II. Appealability
The plaintiff-objectors prosecuting this appeal and GM agree that this court has jurisdiction to hear this appeal. The attorney for one of the plaintiffs and an objector to the settlement before the trial court, however, maintains that the trial court’s order approving the settlement is neither a final decision nor a collateral order within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Of course, we cannot determine this court’s jurisdiction by majority vote of counsel appearing before us and, even if the parties unanimously agreed to appeal the order, we would be required to raise the issue sua sponte. Levin v. Baum, 513 F.2d 92 (7th Cir. 1975).
There is only one apparent obstacle to our hearing this appeal. The trial court’s division of the class into two subclasses arguably makes this a multi-party action subject to the requirements of Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b). In an order following its approval of the subclass settlement, the trial court refused to make a determination that there was no just reason for delay and to direct entry of judgment. We hold that, despite the refusal of the trial court to enter judgment pursuant to Rule 54(b), we have jurisdiction to review the order approving the subclass settlement as a collateral order.
The Supreme Court has taken an “intensely practical” approach when deciding whether judgments are appealable. Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 331 n.11, 96 S.Ct. 893, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976). In close cases the determination must be made by balancing the “inconvenience and costs of piecemeal review” against “the danger of denying justice by delay.” Gillespie v. United States Steel Corp., 379 U.S. 148, 152-53, 85 S.Ct. 308, 311, 13 L.Ed.2d 199 (1964). We are cognizant that the federal policy against piecemeal review admits no exception merely because the judgment appealed from affects the conduct of a class action. See Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay, 437 U.S. 463, 98 S.Ct. 2454, 57 L.Ed.2d 351 (1978) (striking the death knell for the death knell doctrine); Weit v. Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust, 535 F.2d 1010 (7th Cir. 1976) (order requiring notice to class members is not a collateral order). We believe, however, that although the federal courts have narrowly interpreted the collateral order doctrine established in Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949), that this case falls within “that small class which finally determine claims of right separable from, and collateral to, rights asserted in the action, too important to be denied review and too independent of the cause itself to require that appellate consideration be deferred until the whole case is adjudicated.” Id. at 546, 69 S.Ct. at 1226.
The first requirement of the collateral order doctrine is that the matter appealed from must have been finally determined by the district court. This does not require that the trial court be without power to reverse its ruling; it only requires that no further consideration be likely. 15 C. Wright, A. Miller & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure § 3911 at 470 (1976). The record amply indicates the trial judge’s resolve not to reconsider the fairness of the subclass settlement. After the long fairness hearing, the trial court approved the settlement in an order with fairly extensive findings of fact. The order purported to immediately dismiss the claims of all subclass members. Afterward, the trial court on two occasions declined to reconsider its decision. Moreover, although the trial court retained jurisdiction over the settlement subclass action to supervise the implementation of the settlement, this left the trial court with only the ministerial task of executing its judgment. The trial court’s order, therefore, is not tentative and it finally determines the matter appealed to this court.
The second requirement of the collateral order doctrine is that the matter appealed must be “separable from, and collateral to, rights asserted in the action” and neither affect nor be affected by decision on the merits. 337 U.S. at 546, 69 S.Ct. at 1225-1226. Application of this requirement to appeals from decisions on the fairness of a settlement presents some difficulties. Ordinarily settlements of civil litigation are not reviewed by federal courts. Thus, the issue is raised almost exclusively in class or derivative actions. One court of appeals, however, has held that a refusal of a trial court to approve a class action settlement to be “collateral,” Norman v. McKee, 431 F.2d 769 (9th Cir. 1970), cert. denied, 401 U.S. 912, 91 S.Ct. 879, 27 L.Ed.2d 811 (1971), and another has reviewed such a refusal without expressly considering the appealability issue, In re International House of Pancakes Franchise Litigation, 487 F.2d 303 (8th Cir. 1973).
Although in Norman the court maintained that appellate review of the initial determination of the settlement’s fairness was completely divorced from the merits of the claim, adequate review of the fairness of a settlement necessarily requires some examination of the underlying cause of action. 15 C. Wright, A. Miller & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure § 3911 at 385 (1976); see Manual for Complex Litigation § 1.46 at 56. See also Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay, 437 U.S. at 469, 98 S.Ct. at 2458 (“the class determination generally involves considerations that are ‘enmeshed in the factual and legal issues comprising the plaintiff’s cause of action’ ”). Nevertheless, several factors bring this appeal within the separateness requirement. First, the Supreme Court has not applied the requirement that the issue be “separate” from the merits to require the precise division of the issues presented on appeal and the elements of the underlying cause of action that a semanticist might expect. See National Socialist Party v. Village of Skokie, 432 U.S. 43, 97 S.Ct. 2205, 53 L.Ed.2d 96 (1977). Moreover, to the extent that this appeal raises issues about the regularity of the conduct of the settlement negotiations or the fairness hearing, consideration of the merits of the plaintiffs’ cause of action is unnecessary. Similarly, because appellate courts will reverse a trial court’s determination on the fairness of a settlement only if there is a clear abuse of discretion, consideration of the merits is necessarily something less than penetrating.
Finally, the order approving the settlement is, in one sense, completely separate from the merits of the action. The trial court’s approval of the settlement precludes any decision on the merits of the settlement subclass’ claim because the claim will never go to trial.
The third requirement of the collateral order doctrine is that the rights asserted would be lost, probably irreparably, if review were delayed until the conclusion of proceedings in the district court. It is unlikely that the claims of the post-April 10, 1977, Oldsmobile purchasers will be decided any time soon. GM has made clear its intention not to settle with that subclass. Therefore years of litigation before the entire class action is concluded is possible. In the meantime, the settlement, if executed, contemplates the release of state and federal claims by those class members who accept the settlement package and dismissal of the Magnuson-Moss claims for those who do not. If the settlement is later undone on appeal, ordering reimbursement by those who accepted the $200 and received benefits under the mechanical insurance policy would be practically impossible. Those signing releases might also lose their state claims against GM because of the running of the statutes of limitation. Conversely, those who decline to sign the release, may file and pursue state claims. Any judgment in the state courts may possibly bar subsequent action on their Magnuson-Moss claims.
We conclude that “delay of perhaps a number of years in having [their] rights determined might work a great injustice” to the subclass members. Gillespie v. United States Steel Corp., 379 U.S. 148, 153, 85 S.Ct. 308, 311, 13 L.Ed.2d 199 (1964). They “cannot make important decisions about. further participation in this suit without having [their] rights determined now.” Diaz v. Southern Drilling Corp., 427 F.2d 1118, 1123 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 400 U.S. 878, 91 S.Ct. 118, 27 L.Ed.2d 115 (1970). The possibility that later appellate review would be effective is simply too slight.
A final requirement of the collateral order doctrine is that the order must present “important and unresolved legal questions.” Weit v. Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust Co., 535 F.2d 1010, 1015 (7th Cir. 1976); Weight Watchers, Inc. v. Weight Watchers International, Inc., 455 F.2d 770, 773 (2d Cir. 1972). We think this appeal raises at least two important questions concerning the proper balance between the general policy of encouraging settlements and a court’s specific duty to insure the fairness of class action settlements. The first question involves the scope of discovery which should be afforded to objectors to proposed class settlements which were negotiated under questionable circumstances. Because adequate representation is the foundation of all representative actions, see Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(4), Hansberry v. Lee, 311 U.S. 32, 61 S.Ct. 115, 85 L.Ed. 22 (1940), we think this question is appropriately reviewed at this time. The second question concerns the nature of the “settlement” that Rule 23(e) authorizes the trial court to approve. Because this question goes to the power of the district court in the settlement of representative actions, we believe it is sufficiently important to receive appellate consideration now.
In conclusion,' the trial court’s order is not tentative; it is capable of review without extensive examination of the merits; it raises issues which could not be effectively reviewed later; and it presents important, unresolved legal questions for consideration by this court. We hold that the trial court’s order approving the subclass settlement is an appealable collateral order.
III. Motion to Limit the Appeal
Before oral argument, the attorney representing the State of Alabama in this litigation presented to this court a “motion to limit appeal to certain named appellants.” The motion seeks to have the effect of this court’s decision limited to (1) only the named plaintiffs, Oswald and Miller, the plaintiff-objectors prosecuting this appeal or, alternatively, (2) only those class members who filed objections to the proposed settlement in the district court. We consider the arguments in support of the second alternative first.
It is argued that this court’s decision in Research Corp. v. Asgrow Seed Co., 425 F.2d 1059 (7th Cir. 1970), compels this court to restrict the representative standing of the named plaintiffs who prosecute this appeal to those class members who objected to the settlement in the trial court. In Research, the appellants were members of a defendant class represented in the district court by numerous named defendants. Despite adequate notice, the appellants failed either to request exclusion from the defendant class or to object to a proposed settlement negotiated by the named defendants; the appellants attacked the fairness of the settlement for the first time on appeal. This court held that the failure of the appellants to intervene in the action foreclosed their right to appeal. Here it is argued by analogy that each individual subclass member who failed to object to the settlement before the trial court has waived the right to appeal and the right to be represented by others on appeal. We think the argument is without merit.
There is no doubt that the named plaintiffs, Oswald and Miller, preserved the right to appeal. They are parties to the lawsuit; intervention was obviously unnecessary. Moreover, through their attorneys they vigorously objected to the settlement in the district court and created a record adequate for appellate review. Thus, the issue raised by the motion may be refined to whether Oswald and Miller through their counsel may represent the interests of absent subclass members on this appeal.
We would be reluctant to hold that absentee class members waive appellate review merely because they failed to take affirmative action when their interests were already being adequately represented by participants in the lawsuit. Cf. Ace Heating & Plumbing Co. v. Crane Co., 453 F.2d 30, 32-33 (3d Cir. 1971) (objectors’ failure to opt-out of a class action does not preclude appellate review). To do so would unnecessarily restrict the representational character of all class actions. We need not reach the issue here, however, because the notice of the proposed subclass settlement informed subclass members that if they neither opted out of the subclass nor intervened in the lawsuit that “attorneys for the named plaintiffs will represent your interest in these suits.” We think subclass members who received the notice could reasonably rely on class counsel to protect their interests by prosecuting an appeal from the judgment of the district court if necessary. See Gonzales v. Cassidy, 474 F.2d 67 (5th Cir. 1973) (failure to appeal approval of an unfair settlement constitutes inadequate representation). We therefore decline to hold that absentee subclass members waived their right to have the settlement reviewed by this court.
The second argument advanced in favor of limiting the representative capacity of the plaintiff-objectors on this appeal is that the pretrial order of the trial court vested the power to conduct all pretrial actions on behalf of the class in the attorneys’ executive committee. Because the executive committee did not authorize the prosecution of the appeal, it is argued, the authority of counsel for the plaintiff-objectors must be confined to representing the individual named plaintiffs before this court.
We question initially the premise that it is the attorney, not the named plaintiff, who possesses the power to appeal the approval of a settlement. “[T]he decision to appeal a class action judgment must rest with the class plaintiffs,” not class counsel. Pettway v. American Cast Iron Pipe Co., 576 F.2d 1177-78 (5th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, -U.S.-, 99 S.Ct. 1020, 59 L.Ed.2d 74 (1979). Since the pretrial order did not purport to restrict the representative capacity of the named plaintiffs prosecuting this appeal, it would seem that the argument misses the mark. The court in Pettway, however, acknowledged that “no clear concept of the allocation of decision-making responsibility between the attorney and the class members has yet emerged.” Id. at 1176. Consequently, assuming arguendo the premise that the class attorney is the dominus iitus, we consider and reject the argument that the pretrial order prohibits counsel for Oswald and Miller from representing the interests of the class before this court.
The pretrial order does not on its face vest the power to appeal in the executive committee. The order itself only lists the committee’s various duties and powers relating to pretrial proceedings. We would be extremely reluctant to imply a provision that restricts the right to appeal decisions of the trial court. Furthermore, even if the pretrial order contemplated giving the executive committee the power to prohibit individual attorneys from appealing, whether the executive committee has done so is unclear. The minutes of the committee meeting show that the committee did pass a motion that no appeal be taken from the trial court’s approval of the settlement. Nevertheless, those minutes also indicate that before passage of the motion “[t]he chair ruled that the motion does not proclude [sic ] anyone from appealing but states the position of the majority of plaintiffs' counsel.”
We believe that the question of whether an appeal should be made and the scope of that appeal should be answered by determining the best interests of the class. The plaintiff-proponents maintain that the settlement is fair, that the approval of the trial court is correct, and that the matter is best left unreviewed by this court. Plaintiff-objectors, of course, disagree. The purpose of Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(e) is to protect the interests of absentee class members; the danger of abuse is high and the protection of their interests cannot be left to class counsel alone. Rule 23 imposes on the trial court in the first instance, and on this court eventually, the duty to examine the fairness of proposed settlements. Limiting the representative capacity of the appellants on this appeal would effectively negate this court’s obligation to act as the guardian of the class. We do not believe that the interests of class members are best served by leaving the settlement unreviewed. Cf. McDonald v. Chicago Milwaukee Corp., 565 F.2d 416, 417 n. 1 (7th Cir. 1977) (permitting briefs and oral arguments by parties who failed to file a separate notice of appeal because the case involved “issues inextricably bound up with” those properly before the court). Restricting the appeal would only leave the door open to additional individual appeals by those who decline to accept the settlement offer. A series of individual and possibly conflicting appellate decisions on the propriety of the settlement would undermine the representative nature of class actions significantly and sacrifice the public’s interest in judicial economy unnecessarily. We hold that plaintiff-objectors Oswald and Miller are parties who through their counsel will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class in this appeal. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(4) (requirement for class certification).
We do not hold “that each individual plaintiff and lawyer must be permitted to do what he pleases in litigation as complex as this, and can behave in total disregard of the interest of other litigants and of the class. '...” Farber v. Riker-Maxson Corp., 442 F.2d 457, 459 (2d Cir. 1971). We note the following factors which convince us that the interests of the class will be well represented on this appeal. Cf. Pettway v. American Cast Iron Pipe Co., 576 F.2d 1157, 1178-80 (5th Cir. 1978), cert. denied, - U.S. -, 99 S.Ct. 1020, 59 L.Ed.2d 74 (1979) (discussing factors relevant to determining whether the named plaintiff may appoint new counsel to appeal the approval of a settlement negotiated by former class counsel). First, the named plaintiffs and their counsel were among the first to file engine switch suits against GM. Second, counsel for the appellants was a member of the class executive committee and is well acquainted with the litigation. Despite suggestions and innuendoes of ulterior motives in some of the briefs which we can only regard as symptoms of “the ‘brief writer’s hyperbole’ syndrome,” United States ex rel. Sims v. Sielaff, 563 F.2d 821, 824 n. 6 (7th Cir. 1977), nothing in the record indicates that appellants’ counsel has acted with other than the best interests of the class in mind. Third, although vocal objection to the settlement among class members was not widespread, “the sentiment of the class is but one factor in our analysis of the appealability question.” Pettway, 576 F.2d at 1178. In Patterson v. Stovall, 528 F.2d 108 (7th Cir. 1976), this court heard-the appeal of objectors to a class action settlement even though the objectors constituted only.0018% of all class members and their claims constituted only.0022% of all claims. Id. at 109 n. 1. See also Mandujano v. Basic Vegetable Products, Inc., 541 F.2d 832 (9th Cir. 1976) (reversing settlement even though only 4% of the class was in active opposition to it). Fourth and finally, we find that the issues raised on appeal are far from meritless.
We conclude that the best interests of the class warrant that this court review the fairness of the settlement as it affects the entire class. Consequently, we consider the merits of the objections to the trial court’s approval of the proposed settlement.
IV. Conduct of the Settlement Negotiations
The plaintiff-objectors challenge the refusal of the trial court to permit them to conduct discovery into the settlement negotiations. They contend that the trial court’s order prohibiting discovery and the court’s limitation of examination of the Assistant Illinois Attorney General during the fairness hearing prevented them from being able to determine whether the proposed settlement was fair, reasonable and adequate. The trial court’s order limiting discovery evidences its belief that how the settlement was reached was irrelevant to the issue of the fairness of the settlement. The court’s findings of fact, although finding the irregular method of negotiating the settlement did not prejudice subclass members, reaffirmed the court’s belief that the objection was irrelevant to the adequacy of the settlement “and would not constitute sufficient grounds to withhold an otherwise fair settlement from consideration by the subclass members.”
We think that the conduct of the negotiations was relevant to the fairness of the settlement and that the trial court’s refusal to permit discovery or examination of the negotiations constituted an abuse of discretion. In addition, we do not think that the record adequately supports the court’s conclusion that the seemingly irregular conduct of the negotiations did not prejudice the interests of the class. We must, therefore, reverse the trial court’s order approving the settlement.
This court has several times commented on the trial court’s continuing duty to undertake a stringent examination of the adequacy of representation by the named class representatives and their counsel at all stages of the litigation. McDonald v. Chicago Milwaukee Corp., 565 F.2d 416, 419 (7th Cir. 1977); Susman v. Lincoln American Corp., 561 F.2d 86, 89—90 (7th Cir. 1977). The trial court’s duty to undertake such an inquiry arises from the requirement that it find that “the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a)(4). The trial court’s duty is heightened by its responsibility to review the fairness of any compromise of the class action. Id. 23(e).
The Manual for Complex Litigation provides that inquiry into the conduct of settlement negotiations is pertinent to the court’s examination of the settlement. Manual for Complex Litigation § 1.46 at 53-54. It recommends that before sending a notice to class members of a proposed settlement and before considering the substantive fairness of the settlement, the trial court should conduct a preliminary hearing to determine whether the proposed settlement is “within the range of possible approval.” Id. Among the questions which merit judicial examination at the “probable cause hearing,” the Manual lists:
Who were the negotiating parties and to what extent were they authorized to proceed with the settlement of their class’ claims and possibly those of other classes?
Among the reasons for examining whether settlement negotiations were authorized is the danger of defendant “attorney-shopping.”
[A] person who unofficially represents the class during settlement negotiations must be under strong pressure to conform to the defendants’ wishes. [A]n individual, lacking official status, knows that a negotiating defendant may not like his “attitude” and may try to reach a settlement with another member of the class.
Id. at 59 quoting Ace Heating & Plumbing Co. v. Crane Co., 453 F.2d 30, 33 (3d Cir. 1971). Thus, unauthorized settlement negotiations create the possibility of negotiation from a position of weakness by the attorney who purports to represent the class. In addition, the prestige attendant upon negotiating a large settlement against a corporate defendant and thereby acquiring reputations as consumer advocates may place public attorneys in a situation analogous to private counsel who hope to win large fee awards. The possibility of such a conflict of interest as a general rule warrants judicial scrutiny of unauthorized settlement negotiations. Furthermore, settlement negotiations with less than all class counsel weaken the class’ tactical position even if the attorney who enters into the negotiations attempts to represent the class’ interests vigorously.
Finally, unauthorized settlement negotiations deny other class counsel access to information about the negotiations which is helpful in evaluating the fairness of the settlement. “[T]he options considered and rejected, the topics discussed, the defendant’s reaction to various proposals, and the amount of compromise necessary to obtain a settlement” were all matters which class counsel excluded from the negotiations needed to consider before exercising their fiduciary duties to the class by accepting the settlement.
The record before this court contains facts which cast some doubt on the adequacy of the representation of the class during the settlement negotiations and the fairness of the resulting settlement. These facts warranted in this instance more probing into the conduct of the settlement negotiations than the trial court permitted.
The record establishes that the settlement presented to the court by the Illinois Attorney General was

Question: What is the total number of appellants in the case? Answer with a number.
Answer:

Answer: 99