I mean those class action lawsuits enrich trial lawyers and maybe force companies to behave better (though i bet empirical evidence would show that its more a cost of business).

The 20$ dollars people get is nothing but a guise that the trial lawyers are helping people.

> I mean those class action lawsuits enrich trial lawyers

The entire point, of course, is to encourage such suits by incentivizing those able to bring them.

I'm not sure if the lower price means that class actions shouldn't still be taken.

It's to allow companies to not have to deal with individual claims for each person. I see that the ranges can be substantial though, several thousands, but seems to be criteria.

> Nearly nine months later, Mark received a notification that his claim had been approved. Two weeks after that, $186 was deposited into his bank account. While the amount wasn’t substantial, it covered a grocery run and a phone bill—and more importantly, it reminded him that companies can be held accountable, even in small ways. [0]

[0] https://peopleforlaw.com/blog/how-much-do-people-typically-g...

If the fine's don't dissuade companies from bad practices, the class actions with theoreticaly no upper limit might be a better option to enforce proper behaviour.