Rupa Marya v. Warner Chappell Music Inc

Filing 305

DECLARATION of Tiffaney Janowicz in Support of NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION for Settlement Approval of Preliminary Approval of Proposed Class Action Settlement ; Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support Thereof 301 filed by Plaintiffs Good Morning to You Productions Corp, Majar Productions LLC, Rupa Marya, Robert Siegel. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B)(Manifold, Betsy)

EXHIBIT B

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Qualifications Summary
This document outlines Rust Consulting’s qualifications to serve as the administrator for class action, mass tort,
and regulatory settlements, as well as to perform other similar, complex and time-sensitive matters. It includes
summary information categorized as follows:
Firm Overview
Practice Area Organization
Personnel
Services
Representative Case Experience
Data and System Security

Firm Overview
Rust Consulting, Inc., a SourceHOV company, is a consulting and administration firm that ranks among the
industry leaders in the class action field. Rust provides public and private sector clients a full complement of
services required to administer legal settlements and other complex or time-sensitive programs. These services
include consulting; project management; data management; notification; contact centers and websites; claims
processing; and fund management, distribution, and tax reporting.
Rust grew out of the Rust Consulting Group, which was founded in 1976 by Ron Rust as a litigation support firm
that pioneered the use of computer technology in litigation support. In 1988, the Group administered its first class
action settlement; in 1995, Rust Consulting, Inc. was established as a separate operating entity to focus on legal
settlement administration. Since then, Rust has administered more than 5,000 settlements and projects.
Headquartered in Minneapolis, Rust also has offices in Faribault, Minn., Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Our
subsidiary Kinsella Media maintains a Washington, D.C., location.

Practice Area Organization
Rust administers programs spanning diverse subject matter. The depth and breadth of our legal settlement
administration experience spans all practice areas, with teams focused on antitrust, consumer, finance, insurance
and healthcare, labor and employment, product liability, and securities matters. We work with governmental
agencies at all levels – federal, state, and local – on matters often involving private and sensitive data. Our services
also lend themselves to our clients’ non-settlement needs, including data breach responses, recalls, and remediation
programs.
Our leadership and certain operations and client services personnel focus on specific practice areas relevant to our
clients, deepening their subject matter expertise and directly relevant experience.

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Qualifications Summary, 2

Personnel
Our permanent staff of approximately 315 includes professionals with backgrounds and disciplines including
project management, information technology, finance, law, and operations. This cross-functional, innovative team
includes experts in their respective disciplines, such as CPAs, Ph.D.s, attorneys, and PMPs.
Rust’s team includes some of the most experienced practitioners in the industry, with much of that experience
Rust-specific. Our executive leadership team averages more than 18 years of Rust experience, our senior vice
presidents average nearly 12 years, and our project management averages nearly seven years.

Services
The Rust team provides high quality administrative services for matters of any size and scope. Specific
approaches may vary depending upon the requirements of each individual matter; however, the below services
are typical of our engagements.

Preliminary Consulting
Rust consults with clients prior to settlement to help anticipate otherwise identified issues that may arise in the
management of complex data sets, providing notice, processing claims, and distributing funds, leading to delays
and additional costs.

Project Management
Our project management personnel prepare plans of notice and administration, create or customize project
tracking tools and reports, and oversee the creation of project-specific databases designed to house and capture
appropriate information for use in claims administration. Throughout the administration process, project
management personnel coordinate all activities between the parties, vendors, and internal Rust departments to
ensure work is completed accurately and according to any service level agreements, internal standards,
settlement documents, etc. We provide regular and on-demand reports and statistics to the appropriate parties
and raise potential issues requiring their attention, as necessary. Upon completion of each major phase of
administration, or as required, we prepare declarations or affidavits attesting to the scope and results of our work.

Data Management
The secure and efficient handling of data underlies all aspects of claims administration; Rust creates and
customizes data management processes, databases, applications to meet the unique needs of each settlement or
project. Tasks associated with data management throughout administration may include:
Intaking original client data.
Normalizing data for cross-platform usability, such as meeting mailing or other outreach requirements.
Consolidating and deduplicating data from multiple sources.
Extracting data for standard or customized trace services.
Extracting data for mailing or other outreach.
Calculating awards.

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Qualifications Summary, 3

Notification
Rust disseminates hundreds of millions of notices annually by mail and email. We also work with our subsidiary
Kinsella Media, the leading provider of notice to unidentified audiences and the only firm in the nation with two
qualified, court-recognized notice experts, to develop and implement notice plans.
With respect to legal settlements, these notice programs notify class members or other affected individuals of
their legal rights and options. With respect to data breach responses, recalls, or remediation, these programs
inform affected individuals about the situations and any options those affected individuals may have.
Among our notification-related services are:
Designing notice programs (through Kinsella Media).
Drafting plain language materials (through Kinsella Media).
Designing and proofreading notice materials.
Locating unidentified individuals and updated addresses.
Printing and mailing.
Processing and forwarding undeliverable mail.
Opining about notice program adequacy (through Kinsella Media).

Contact Centers
Rust supports the programs we administer through an assortment of contact center services including call
centers, websites, and email support up to 24/7 and for class members and other affected individuals worldwide.
Our call center services include inbound and outbound calls in our own domestic, in-house call centers. These
call centers are located in our two Minnesota locations, typically contain approximately 800 workstations, and are
readily expandable to meet the needs of specific programs. In 2013, our call centers supported several large
programs by simultaneously staffing well over 1,000 customer service representatives (CSRs).
To provide high levels of service on complex matters to class members and our clients’ customers, Rust
maintains a robust, permanent core group of call center employees, comprising managerial, supervisory, and
customer service resources. We engage additional call center staff on a project basis as required. All CSRs—
permanent or temporary—undergo background checks and training on Rust’s policies and technology, customer
service fundamentals, and project-specific information. Typical engagements include English- and Spanishspeaking CSRs, while we provide support in additional languages, as required. In one case, Rust CSRs took live
inbound calls in 10 languages.
In lieu of or in conjunction with live customer service, Rust builds and maintains automated Interactive Voice
Response (IVR) systems. These systems provide 24/7 service to toll-free numbers and include menus of
prerecorded options such as program overviews, frequently asked questions and answers, and options for
requesting forms or filing claims. Rust’s IVR systems regularly support English- and Spanish-language speakers

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Qualifications Summary, 4

and can be programmed to support other languages, as required. In one case, Rust managed IVR support
including translations of information pre-recorded by native speakers in 67 languages.

Claims Processing
Rust develops or executes claims processing or adjudication programs as required by the diverse terms of our
engagements. We use several proprietary software applications and tested, streamlined processes to provide the
most appropriate solutions for each engagement’s needs, whether for paper or online claims. Our systems
automate the claims administration process:
Receipt.
Link to class member database record.
Data capture.
Review of supporting documentation.
Initial adjudication.
Deficiency processing.
Final adjudication.
Rejection letters.
Reporting/affidavits.
To meet the needs of each engagement, our systems can be configured to give clients or authorized parties
secure online access to claimant data and reporting, or to class members to facilitate online claims filing.

Fund Management, Distribution, and Tax Reporting
Rust annually distributes billions of dollars associated with settlements and similar programs.
Quality assurance - Positive pay
Various fraud detection/prevention measures

Tax reporting
Simultaneously manages more than 500 distribution and interest-bearing accounts containing billions of
dollars.
Tax identification numbers (federal and state).
Qualified Settlement Fund (QSF) determination.
Claimant award taxability and reporting.
W-9 review.
Quarterly 1120-SF tax deposits.
Annual 1120-SF tax returns (600+ annually).
IRS & State 1099 & 1042-S reporting and transmission.
Backup withholding deposits and 945 annual reporting.
Employment payroll taxes: 941, 940, SUTA, SIT, and local income taxes.

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Qualifications Summary, 5

Representative Case Experience
Having administered more than 5,000 projects, a complete listing of our experience is voluminous. However, the
below tables demonstrate the scope of our experience and capacity.
Note: All numbers are rounded
Notices

Case

31 million

In re Lawnmower Engine Horsepower Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, No. 2:08-md01999 (E.D. Wis.).

24 million

Microsoft I-V Cases, J.C.C.P. No. 4106 (Cal. Super. Ct. San Francisco County).

15.7 million

Blessing v. Sirius XM Radio, No. 09-cv-10035 (S.D.N.Y.).

13 million

In re Checking Account Overdraft Litigation, No. 1:09-MD-02036 (S.D. Fla.) (Bank of America
settlement).

12.5 million

Fogel v. Farmers Group, Inc.No. BC300142 (Cal. Super. Ct. Los Angeles County).

Distributed

Case

$3.6 billion

Independent Foreclosure Review

$1.5 billion

National Mortgage Settlement

$800 million

Naef v. Masonite Corp., No. CV 944033 (Ala. Cir. Ct. Mobile County).

$515 million

In re Countrywide Financial Corp. Securities Litigation, No. CV-07-05295 (C.D. Cal.).

$432 million

In re Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. Securities, Derivative and ERISA Litigation, No. 07-cv-9633
(S.D.N.Y.).

Claims

Case

3.4 million

In re Compact Disc Minimum Advertised Price Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1361 (D. Me.).

3.2 million

In re American International Group, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 04-cv-8141 (S.D.N.Y.)
(Company, PwC, Starr, and Gen Re settlements).

1.2 million

LiPuma v. American Express Co., No. 04-cv-20314 (S.D. Fla.).

1.1 million

Fogel v. Farmers Group, Inc., No. BC300142 (Cal. Super. Ct. Los Angeles County).

1.1 million

In re Lawnmower Engine Horsepower Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, No. 2:08-MD01999 (E.D. Wis.).

Calls

Case

2.5 million

Independent Foreclosure Review

1.5 million

Dyson v. Flagstar Corp., No. DKC93-1503 (D. Md.).

1.3 million

National Mortgage Settlement

1 million

In re Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Sales Practice Litigation, MDL 1091 (W.D. Penn.).

1 million

Naef v. Masonite Corp., No. CV 94-4033 (Ala. Cir. Ct. Mobile County).

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Qualifications Summary, 6

Data and System Security
The secure handling of data, systems, and applications is of utmost importance to Rust and its clients. As such,
Rust actively mitigates potential threats by adhering to a complex set of best practices, including documented and
audited processes and a business continuity plan to ensure uninterrupted, secure service. As part of this “unified
compliance posture,” Rust:
Has received system Certification & Accreditation under the Federal Information Security Management
Act (“FISMA”) for two federal agencies. The framework for FISMA compliance is driven by the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”), which provides a unified security framework spanning
three major security control classes (technical, operational, and management) and 18 control areas with
more than 250 security controls.
Complies with and adheres to Safe Harbor Principles, which cover notice and choice, disclosures and
transfers, data security, data integrity, access to and removal of personal information, and enforcement
and dispute resolution.
Undergoes an annual SSAE16 SOC 2 Type II Report audit of our data and system security controls and
protocols.
Complies with applicable laws, such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), also known as the Financial
Modernization Act of 1999, which controls how financial institutions deal with individuals’ private
information.
Has implemented controls to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, maintain data accuracy, and
ensure the appropriate use and confidentiality of information, either for its own purposes or on behalf of
our clients.
Has put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the
information we process.
Processes personal information only in ways compatible with the purpose for which it was collected or
subsequently authorized to do.

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