Parrish et al v. National Football League Players Incorporated

Filing 653

Declaration of Ronald S. Katz in Support of 652 MOTION for Settlement -- Notice of Motion and Motion for Final Approval of Settlement and of Proposed Plan of Distribution filed byHerbert Anthony Adderley. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1, # 2 Exhibit 2, # 3 Exhibit 3, # 4 Exhibit 4, # 5 Exhibit 5, # 6 Exhibit 6)(Related document(s) 652 ) (Katz, Ronald) (Filed on 10/15/2009)

Parrish et al v. National Football League Players Incorporated

Doc. 653

Case3:07-cv-00943-WHA Document653

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MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP
ATTO RNEY S AT LAW PA L O A L T O

MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP RONALD S. KATZ (Bar No. CA 085713) E-mail: [e-mail] RYAN S. HILBERT (California Bar No. 210549) E-mail: [e-mail] NOEL S. COHEN (California Bar No. 219645) E-mail: [e-mail] 1001 Page Mill Road, Building 2 Palo Alto, CA 94304-1006 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] MCKOOL SMITH, P.C. LEWIS T. LECLAIR (Bar No. CA 077136) E-mail: [e-mail] JILL ADLER NAYLOR (Bar No. CA 150783) E-mail: [e-mail] 300 Crescent Court Dallas, TX 75201 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] Attorneys for Plaintiffs UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

HERBERT ANTHONY ADDERLEY, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, vs. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PLAYERS ASSOCIATION, a Virginia corporation, and NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PLAYERS INCORPORATED d/b/a PLAYERS INC., a Virginia corporation, Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION NO. C07 0943 WHA DECLARATION OF RONALD S. KATZ IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT AND OF PROPOSED PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION Date: Thursday, November 19, 2009 Time: 2:00 p.m. Judge: Honorable William H. Alsup Place: Courtroom 9, 19th Floor

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ATTO RNEY S AT LAW PA L O A L T O

I, Ronald S. Katz, declare as follows: 1. I am an attorney duly licensed to practice law before the Courts of the State of

California and am a counsel of record in this matter. I am a partner with the law firm of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, LLP ("Manatt"), and served as lead counsel for my firm and co-counsel for plaintiff Herb Adderley and the certified class in this action. I am submitting this Declaration in support of Class Counsels' motion for final approval of the settlement agreement. The following declaration is based upon my personal knowledge. If called as a witness I could and would competently testify to the facts set forth herein. 2. On August 18, 2009, this Court issued an Order (the "Order") preliminarily

approving the Settlement Agreement between Plaintiff and Defendants. Subsequent to the Order, I caused the Claims Administrator, Garden City, to distribute copies of the Notice by first class mail to Class Members. Attached hereto as Exhibit 1 is a true and correct copy of the Notice of Class Action Settlement that was sent to the Class Members. Accompanying the Notice was the Proposed Plan of Distribution. Attached hereto as Exhibit 2 is a true and correct copy of the Proposed Plan of Distribution. 3. Class Counsel also caused Garden City to establish and maintain a 24-hour toll-

free telephone helpline where Class Members could obtain information about the settlement. In addition, Class Counsel caused Garden City to establish and maintain an official website at www.retiredplayerclassaction.com. 4. Class Counsel is aware that Defendants have published on the front page of their

website a link to the Notice. Attached hereto as Exhibit 3 is a true and correct copy of a screen shot from the home page of Defendants' website located at www.nflplayers.com. 5. The jury verdict and resultant judgment in this case was the result of nearly two

years of vigorous and hard-fought litigation. During this time, Class Counsel spent thousands of hours of attorney and paralegal time analyzing hundreds of thousands of pages of documents; taking and defending multiple depositions across the country; drafting numerous briefs and motion papers, most of which were drafted in response to motions filed by Defendants; battling over class certification and pleading amendments, including a motion for summary judgment and
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motions to decertify the class; participating in numerous court hearings; consulting repeatedly with damage and sports economics experts; and conducting a three-week jury trial. 6. Soon after the jury returned a verdict in favor of the retired players and against

Defendants, counsel for Defendants told the press that the verdict was "unjust" and that Defendants were "confident it would be overturned." Attached hereto as Exhibit 5 is a true and correct copy of an article published by the Associate Press on November 11, 2008. In January 2009, counsel for Defendants re-affirmed his position. Attached hereto as Exhibit 6 is a true and correct copy of an article published by the New York Times on January 31, 2009. 7. The settlement in this case was reached by experienced, fully-informed counsel

after many years of litigation and even a jury trial. It also took months of continuous arm's length negotiations to reach terms on which both parties could agree. Attached collectively hereto as Exhibit 4 is a true and correct copy of the Settlement Agreement between the parties dated June 5, 2009, as well as a true and correct copy of the Amendment to Settlement Agreement and Release Agreement executed on August 4, 2009. 8. Based on a number of factors ­ including my knowledge of and familiarity with

this case, the potential risk that the judgment could be overturned or reduced on appeal, and the fact that the settlement amount is only $1.85 million less than the amount of the jury verdict ­ I believe that the Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, and adequate and in the best interests of the GLA Class. 9. An overwhelming number of the retired players who have contacted me and my

colleagues about the settlement have indicated their approval. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge. Signed this 15th day of October, 2009, at Palo Alto, California. ___/s/ Ronald S. Katz_________________ Ronald S. Katz

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