Preliminary Approval
Preliminary approval is the first court hearing where a judge reviews a proposed class action settlement and decides whether it is fair enough to move forward with class notice and the claim period.
What preliminary approval means
After class counsel and defense counsel negotiate a proposed settlement, they submit it to the judge overseeing the case. The judge reviews the proposed terms — total fund size, attorney fees, notice plan, claim process — and decides whether it is fair enough to proceed. If yes, the judge grants preliminary approval, which authorizes the settlement administrator to notify class members and open the claim period.
What happens next
Notice to class members. Claim period opens (usually 60-180 days). Objections filed by class members if any. Final approval hearing at the end. See our full class action timeline.
A worked example, from a settlement we checked
Preliminary approval is the judge’s permission to tell the class, not a decision that the settlement is fair. In the Oppenheimer cash sweep settlement, Judge Jed S. Rakoff granted preliminary approval on 22 May 2026 — which is what allowed notices and claim forms to go out at all. Whether the settlement, the plan of allocation and the fee request are actually approved is decided later, at the final approval hearing.
So preliminary approval means claims can open. It does not mean the money is agreed, and the court can still change the dates or refuse the whole thing. Between preliminary and final approval sit the claims deadline, the hearing, the approval order and the appeal window — we set the sequence out in which settlements are actually paying out.
Related terms
Final Approval · Notice of Class Action · Settlement Administrator