4EC Holdings, LLC v. Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP

Filing 54

ORDER FOLLOWING HEARING RE MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY APPROVAL. Signed by Judge Vince Chhabria on 1/23/2015. (knm, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 1/23/2015)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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4EC HOLDINGS, LLC,

Case No. 14-cv-01944-VC

Plaintiff,
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v.

ORDER

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LINEBARGER GOGGAN BLAIR &
SAMPSON, LLP,
Defendant.

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Following the hearing on the motion for preliminary approval, the Court requests that the

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parties file a joint brief by February 20, 2014, addressing, in no particular order, the following

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questions:

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

amount?

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What is the average claim amount per class member? What is the median claim

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What is the parties' best estimate of the amount of money that will actually be

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claimed by the class members, and what is the information/data upon which that

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estimate is based?

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

Suppose the class members only claim $200,000. Would a settlement that involved

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payment of $200,000 to the class members, $300,000 to the settlement

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administrator, and roughly $1.6 million in attorneys' fees to plaintiffs' counsel be

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fair? Why or why not?

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

for the plaintiffs (including penalties), and why?

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If this case continued in litigation, what (if anything) would be a realistic recovery

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On what basis have the parties concluded that the defendant received roughly $6
million as a result of its collection activities? Should the Court or the plaintiff be

required to review the defendant's financial records to confirm that estimate?

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

Counsel for the defendant asserted at the hearing that the taxpayers were harmed by

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the conduct of the class members. Is there an argument that unclaimed funds

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should be distributed to the defendant's clients rather than the defendant? If not the

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defendants' clients, some other governmental entity or entities? If not some other

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governmental entity, anyone else?

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

How would money be distributed to class members in the event of a judgment

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following trial? Would the Court still face a question of what to do with unclaimed

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funds?
To the extent the parties disagree on the answers to these questions they can file separate sections

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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in the joint brief.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: January 23, 2015
______________________________________
VINCE CHHABRIA
United States District Judge

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