not sure I agree entirely. Courts are about dispensing equitable...

not sure I agree entirely. Courts are about dispensing equitable Justice according to the laws of the land.
can they merely put aside a valid contract which was willingly signed by participants and SHJ?
A contract which no doubt clearly set out the terms and conditions of the action and disbursement.
Frankly, for mine, this fails the pub sniff test on fairness.
SHJ you ran the case and paid all the costs and lost - tough SHJ but that was the deal - and NOT ONE of the participants would contribute a dime. Maybe send a card saying thanks, whilst others would grumble that they (SHJ) didn’t try hard enough.

SHJ runs the case pays all the costs and Wins! Great, but who is featured as the winner - the participants ( and they certainly have a right) BUT. NOW that the win is in, the concentration is on what they will receive AND SHJ are being greedy on what they are claiming. Without SHJ THEIR RIGHT TO RECEIVE WAS ZERO!
Surely, commerciality has a place to play here. It does in just about every other sphere.
Think about this: when a person buys a managements right business, they are entitled to profits from collecting and disbursing the rents received, for which they get a commission. Isn’t class action matters a business where you invest upfront in the hope of winning AND THEN DISBURSING THE PROCEEDS.
If the courts award the disbursement of funds to another party, then the class action business model is broken and SHJ and others will need to consider their futures. As I say, big pharma are sitting in the front row eating popcorn as they await a ruling based upon lowest cost of disbursement rather than incentivising law firms who dare to take a BIG RISK UPFRONT.
If they award it to the lowest bidder, then India and the Philippines will be the likely winners.
RISK AND REWARD are joined at the hip.
the higher the risk (Ethicon) the higher the reward
the lower the risk (Australian 10 year bond) the lower the reward.
If the courts make high risk for lower reward, who will bother.