Parrish et al v. National Football League Players Incorporated

Filing 681

NOTICE by Herbert Anthony Adderley Class Counsels' Notice Regarding Distributions from the Settlement Fund (Katz, Ronald) (Filed on 3/22/2010)

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A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION · ATTORNEYS

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: lleclair@mckoolsmith 300 Crescent Court, Suite 1500 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, Plaintiff 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 CLASS COUNSELS' NOTICE REGARDING DISTRIBUTIONS FROM THE SETTLEMENT FUND

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DALLAS, TEXAS

MCKOOL SMITH

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NOTICE RE DISTRIBUTIONS ­ Page 1 Civil Action No. C07 0943 WHA

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A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION · ATTORNEYS

Pursuant to the Court's November 23, 2010 Order, Counsel for the GLA Class ("Class Counsel") hereby certifies and attests as follows: 1. On November 23, 2009, the Court granted Class Counsel's Motion for Final

Approval of the Settlement Agreement and Proposed Plan of Distribution. 2. Shortly thereafter, on December 11, 2009, Class Counsel caused The Garden City

Group, Inc. (the "Class Administrator") to mail each Class Member for whom Class Counsel has a known address a Claim Form and Release ("Claim Form") in the form attached as Exhibit A to the Declaration of Lewis T. LeClair, filed concurrently herewith.1 The Claim Form stated that the recipient must return a completed Claim Form to the Claims Administrator on or before February 9, 2010. Id. 3. The Class Administrator received 1,571 Claim Forms that were postmarked on or

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DALLAS, TEXAS

MCKOOL SMITH

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before the February 9, 2010 deadline, and has distributed funds to each of the 1,562 Class Members who submitted a Claim Form by the deadline. Keough Decl. at ¶ 4. Nine Class Members have yet to be paid due to the fact that their Claim Forms were incomplete. Id. In addition, the Class Administer received 17 Claim Forms that were postmarked after the February 9, 2010 deadline. Id. Despite the fact that such Claim Forms were received after the deadline, Class Counsel has authorized the Class Administrator to pay these Class Members their respective portion of the Settlement Fund.2 Id. The name of each Class Member who has received a distribution from the Settlement Fund is attached as Exhibit A to the Declaration of Jennifer Keough. Despite the fact that each Class Member's address was run through the United States Postal Service's National Change of Address database, 261 Claim Forms were returned to the Class Administrator as undeliverable with no forwarding address. Class Counsel is currently working with the Class Administrator to conduct "advanced searches" to locate addresses for the 261 Class Members whose forms were returned as undeliverable. 2 Class Counsel intends to distribute funds to any Class Member that submits a completed Claim Form prior to June 1, 2010.
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A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION · ATTORNEYS

4.

To date, the Class Administrator has distributed $7,379,784.86 from the

Settlement Fund.3 Keough Decl at ¶ 5. 5. A total of 482 Class Members have yet to submit a completed claim form, and as

a result, approximately $1,619,787.71 remains in the Settlement Fund (the "Unclaimed Funds").4 Keough Decl at ¶ 6. Pursuant to the Plan of Distribution, the Unclaimed Funds will be distributed to those Class Members that have submitted a completed a Claim Form. Such distribution will occur at the same time as the distribution of the second installment of the Gross Settlement Amount (discussed below). However, prior to distributing the Unclaimed Funds, Class Counsel intends to re-send each of the Class Members who has yet to submit a Claim Form, and for whom Class Counsel has a known address, a second notice in the form attached as Exhibit B to the Declaration of Lewis T. LeClair.5 6. Pursuant to Paragraph 34 of the Settlement Agreement, Defendants are required to

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DALLAS, TEXAS

MCKOOL SMITH

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fund the second installment of the Gross Settlement Amount totaling $13,125,000 into the escrow account on June 5, 2010. 7. Class Counsel anticipates that distributions related to the second installment of the

Gross Settlement Amount will be made on or about June 30, 2010.
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In addition to authorizing distributions to the Class Members, Class Counsel has also authorized distributions from the Settlement Fund for the payment of (i) one half of the court ordered attorneys' fees, (ii) the court ordered expenses incurred in connection with the litigation, (iii) administrative expenses related to the distribution of the Settlement Fund, and (iv) one half of the Court's award to Herb Adderley, the Class Representative. Specifically, Class Counsel authorized a distribution for fees and expenses to Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in the amount of $2,250,700 and a distribution to McKool Smith in the amount of $1,814,300. Class Counsel authorized a distribution of $5,000 to Mr. Adderley. Finally, Class Counsel authorized three distributions to the Class Administrator for expenses incurred in connection with the distribution of the Settlement Fund in the amount of $11,689.75, $27,113.91 and 24,614.71, respectively. 4 A list containing the names of each Class Member who has yet to submit a completed Claim Form is attached as Exhibit B to the Declaration of Jennifer Keough. 5 Class Counsel does not intend to resend a Claim Form to those Class Members whose initial Claim Forms were returned as undeliverable, unless the Class Administrator is able to find a new address for such Class Members through its "advanced searches".
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A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION · ATTORNEYS

Respectfully submitted, Dated: March 18, 2010 MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP

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DALLAS, TEXAS

By: /s/ Ronald S. Katz Ronald S. Katz (SBN 085713) Ryan S. Hilbert (SBN 210549) Noel S. Cohen (SBN 219645) 1001 Page Mill Road, Building 2 Palo Alto, CA 94304-1006 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] MCKOOL SMITH, P.C. Lewis T. LeClair (SBN 077136) Jill Adler Naylor (SBN 150783) 300 Crescent Court Dallas, TX 75201 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] Attorneys for Plaintiffs

MCKOOL SMITH

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