Professional Documents
Culture Documents
proposed class settlement action are fvorable to the cl ass members." Natt/tRural,
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2 221 F.R.D. at 529. :l
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3 In the present case, the Court approved a "Notice" tat was publ .-
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4 nationally in the USA TODAY newspaper. The Notice set frh the n'ature of te
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case, the tenns of the proposed settlement, apprised class members of their aility
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to object to the settlement and te procedure to do so. Te Notice frther infnned
7 class members of their ability to opt-out of the class and individually pursue their
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own claims. To date, the Court has not been notifed of one objection to the
9 Settlement and no one has opted-out of the class. The Court fnds the lack of class
IO members that have manifsted any disapproval of the Settlement frther
11 demonstrates the firess, adequacy and reasonableness of the Settlement. This
12 fctor weighs in fvor of approvi ng the Settlement.
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(7)
Te rsk that class certifcation could no
maintained throughout litigation
approval of Settlement
2, 2004, this Court granted Plaintifs' otion fr class cerifcation
estlaw 1638201 (C.D. Cal. July
19 12, 2004). However, u Yer Rule 23, the C r may revisit its prior grant of
20 certifcation at any time be
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Jtered or amended befre fnal judgment.").
uld be decertifed or modifed if the
23 l iti gation were to con ue. See Fed.R. Civ .. 23(d) ("In the conduct of actions to
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ies, the court may make ap opriate orders ... ( 4) requiring that
25 the pleadings e amended to eliminate therefom al ations a to representation
26 of absent ersons, and that the action
p
roceed accordin
g
");see also Armstrong
27 v. Da s; 275 F.3d 849, 872 n. 28 (9th Cir.2001). Given the c
28 s action litigation, problems could arise which may justif dee
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ch, the Cour acknowledges that some risk exists with respect to mtiffnot
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bei ble to maintain class action status throughout trial. ever, the Court
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ate, no defndant sought to decerti f t class or has raised a
(rp
ance of this action as a c ss action. Moreover, this Court
oes not prevent the Cour fom granting
s within the Cour's discretion what weight, if
any, is to be
g
iven to the tors used to deterine whether fnal
approval of a settle nt should be granted. Se
In exer ing this Cour's discretion, and base the absence of any
quantif le threat or indication of decertifcation, the Cou ds that this fctor
we' 1s in fvor of approving the settlement
2. Motion fr Compensation and Fees to the Plaintif
Some courts have recognized that class representatives are entitled to some
compensation fr the rsk and inconvenience incurred on behalf of the class. Jn re
Cont'! Ill. Sec. Litig, 962 F.2d 566, 571 (7th Cir.1992). This practice is not
universally endorsed but many courts wil l grant incentives if they are reasonable.
In re Chambers Dev. Sec. Li, 912 F. Supp. 852, 863 (I 995).
The court has discretion to decide whether enhancements fees should be
awaded to class representatives and the appropriate amount of these fes. Van
Vranken v. At!. Richfeld Co., 901F.Supp.294, 299 (.D.Cal. l 995). When
detennining incentive awards, cours may consider the fl lowing: "I) the risk to
the class representative in commencin
g
suit, both fnancial and otherwise; 2) the
notoriet and personal difculties encountered by the class representative; 3) the
amount of time and effrt spent by the class representative; 4) the duration of te
litigation and; 5) the personal beneft (or lack thereof) enjoyed by the class
representative as a result of the litiga_tion." Id; see also Denney v. Jenkins &
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Gilchrist, 2005 Westl aw 388562 at *31 (S.D.N.Y. Feb.18, 2005) (In gra!ing
.
II.{'
2 compensatory awards to the representative plaintif in PSLR class actions;
"
courts
3 consider the circumstances, including the personal risks incurred by the ,..a-
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becoming a lead plaintif, the time and efort expended by that plainti f in
5 prosecuting the litigation, any other burdens sustained by that plaintif in lending
6 himsef or herself to prosecutig the claim, and the ultimate recovery.").
7
According to P1aintiff s declaration, he has been actively involved in ever
8 aspec!of this litigation, fom reviewing and obtainiHg documents and JegaJ
9 treaIises befre fling to a!tempting to locate other victims as possible class
10 representaties and/or witnesses, and responding to discover, preparing fr,
11 tr8veling to and atte-ding their deposition and two mediations and maintaining
12 contact with u!uI|Scounsel to moni!or the litigation. In doing so, Plaintif
13 maintains that he has provided signifcant labor and spent time that would
14 otherwise been dedicated to other activities in -efort to ensure that tle claims of
15 the Class were efecti vely prosecuted. During the course of litigation, the Plaintif
16 reviewed, among other things, various draft complants, amended complaints,
17 motion papers, interrogatories and document requests uHu responses. For these
18 I083OuS,laintif maintains that the amounts requested are reasonable.
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20 Plaintif declares that he is a fll time employee of the Rverside County
21 Sheriffs Department and !hat he has |nVC8L0uover 125 hours of time in
22 Q8IIICI8lIB_in this i ti gati oH, I0uuu_testifing at his 3-u8yu !ad
23 attending two fll-day mediations. 8uIH8 requests 25,000,A
l ii8
24 fr 125 hours, of whi ch 50 were pre- and 75 were post-litigation.
25 It is within this Court's discretion to ward incentive fes to named class
26 representatives in a class action suit. Van Vranken v. Alt. Richfeld Co., 90 l
27 F.Supp. 294, 299 (N.D.Cal.1995) (holding that a
incentive award of $50,000
28 proper where the named plaintif helped litigation that lasted fr many years,
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testifed as a key witness at trial and personally beneftted little from the ;-
tl.J'
2 l iigat ion).
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3 Here, several fctors support Plaintiffs request fr an incntive awd.
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4 Litigation of this class action has lasted fr almost two years befre the case
5 settled. Moreover, Plaintif assisted Class Counsel throughout this lengthy and
6 risky
.
case. Plaintiff is entitled to such compensation fr hii eforts during this
7 litigation.
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9 3. Plaintiffs Counsel's Application fr An Award Of Attoreys'
10 Fees And Reimbursement of Expenses
11 The quality of representation is measured by Hthe quality of the result
12 achieved, the difculties fced, the speed and efciency of the recover, the
13 standing, experience and expertise of the counsel, the ski11 and profssionalism
14 with |.-counsel prosecuted the .+-and the perfrmance and quality of
15 opposing counsel." In re Ikon Ofce Solutions, Inc. Sec. Litig., 194 F.R.D. 166,
16 194 (E.D. Pa. 2000). Here, Plaintiffs counsel brought a case ariculating a theor
17 of class recovery that had never been brought befre, to counsel's knowledge.
18 Counsel had laid the groundwork fr this case through their success on the merits
19 of the FCRA ciaims i n earlier individual cases. By layi ng the proper fundation
20 fr this class case, counsel was able to achieve a relatively rapid and effcient
21 resolution of the Class' claims. Counsel have a wide range of experience in
22 consuer class action litigation, as evidenced by the infmmtion set fr in their
23 respective Declarations, cited supra. Counsel have also been cerifed to represent
24 consumer class actions many imes, by others, which is testament to their skill,
25 experti
e and reputation.
26 While the litigation does not appear to be of lengthy duration, the parties
27 having reached a settlement within 2 years after the case was filed, many hours of
28 effrt were expended in achievi ng victories in individual FCRA litigation that laid
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1 the groundwork fr this cass action. Hence, the result cannot be measurel)y
L,(;
2 refrence to the duration of this case only but must also take into account the
: ::
3 many months of litigation involved in individual cases such as those cited fn
(,
4 counsels declarations, supra. This case involves potentialJy quite complicated
5 issues of l iability and damages which if pursued would involve a long and
6 protracted litigation between the parties as to class certifcation and as to the
7 merits of Plaintifs c1aims.
8 While counsel spent many hours on a case that was concluded within two
9 years after it was fed, those hours were essential to the result obtained The
1 o
briefng on the class certifcation was thorough and critical, and the settlement
11 negotiations, in particular, were adversarial and protracted requiring two lengthy
12 confrences with Mediator-Judge Sarokin and the exchange and revi sions of
13 numerous draft settlement documents.
14 As set frth in the attached Declarations of counsel at Exhibits I though 3,
15 the number of hours devoted to this case by the three law frms serving as Class
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16 Counsel total atrey hours and 244.83 legal-assistant hours. (These fgures
17 do not incl ude all the hours devoted by counsel in other cases that lead to
1 8 decisions that were instrumental in achi eving the settlement in this case.) A1l
19 things considered te number of
4 atoreys' fes in similar cases. See Fischer v. SJB-P.D. Inc., 214 F.3d 1115 (9th
5 Cir. 2000). Counsel's submission also meets the re
q
uirements for a statutor
6 fe-shifing award. See Wite v. GA1R, CIV-S-04-0465 DFL CMK slip op
7 (E.D.Cal. Aug. 19, 2005). The Declaations submitted herewith also set fr the
8 bass fr the division of labor among the frms and their effrts to litigate the case
)
9
in an effcient manner. There was no time fr which compensation is now
lO requested in this case that was "excessive, redundant or otherise unnecessar
y
."
11 Hensley v. Eckerhart, 46 l U.S. 424, 433, 103 S.Ct. 1933, 76 L.Ed.2d 40 (1983).
12 All the time submited was reasonably necessary to achieve the successfl
13 outcome fr the Plaintif and the Class.
14
15 d.
16 The Declarations of counsel fled simultaneously herewith show that costs
17 as set frth therein were incurred in the prosecution of this case. The bulk of those
18 costs were fr expert report, legal research services, travel, messenger services,
19 telephone calis and copying charges fr pleadings, documents, brief. AU of the
20 costs were advanced by Plaintiffs counsel and were necessarily incurred. Plaintif
21 should be awarded the unreimbursed costs in fll.
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23 ///
24 Ill
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l III. DISPOSITION
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2 For the reasons stated above, the Court hereby (1) GRNTS .-.,-.-:' !1
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lI WAAO 1 l/Ai,.l
3 motion fr fnal approval of class action .selee1 e
'.ds "" i , ;oo I A AlPA11 Ill# l,1
AAS (2) GRANTS Plaintiffs motion fr an award of attoreys'
fes, as per class action settlement.'i&,t.lM - , , I
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tpJl't ' " t; At/4 t'1Vf _,, ( F J3 I 15#
7 ITISSOORDERED. . P b1t,1.'
8 DATED: ;___,
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United States District Judge
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p .oo l
FEB-07-2006(TUE) ld:SO
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CERTff C OF EERSOA ETcJCIltC SERVlE
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I, Rober Stempler, cerfy tat on Febrar 7, 2006, I emaled a copy of
4 tis docuent [PROPOSED ORER AO OPION GRAIG: (A) JOlN
s MOTON FOR FIA APROVA OF CLASS ACTION SETE; AD
G () rt::mrsMOTON FOR A Aw A OF A rrORYS' FEES, AS
7 PER CLASS ACTON SETLEMN, :ddresscd a flows. i pdf frat wi
& exlress wtten perission by Ms. Fujie:
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Holly J. Fujie
BUCHTR NMR AC
1000 Wilshire Blvd Ste 1500
Los Ageles CA 900 I 7-2457
Email: HUlE@buchattcr.com
, ;""'r rn u llJlllC I !A 11 DU
COUSEL OF RCOR FOR
SEA, ROEBUCK AD CO. ad
SEAS NATIONAL.ANK