Lee v. Enterprise Leasing Company-West, LLC
Filing
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ORDER granting in part and denying in part 104 Motion for Approval of Proposed Notice. Please see attached for details and deadlines. Signed by Judge Larry R. Hicks on 9/19/14. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - JC)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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DISTRICT OF NEVADA
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LYDIA LEE and CAROLYN BISSONETTE, )
individually and on behalf of all others
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similarly situated,
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Plaintiffs,
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v.
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ENTERPRISE LEASING COMPANY)
WEST, a Delaware LLC; and VANGUARD )
CAR RENTAL USA, LLC, a Delaware LLC, )
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Defendants.
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3:10-CV-00326-LRH-WGC
ORDER
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Before the Court is Plaintiffs Lydia Lee and Carolyn Bissonette’s (“Plaintiffs”) Motion
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for Approval of Proposed Notice, Plan for Distribution of Notice, and Setting Hearing Date for
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Application for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs. Doc. #104.1 Defendants Enterprise Leasing Company-
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West and Vanguard Car Rental USA, LLC (“Defendants”) filed a Response (Doc. #107), to which
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Plaintiffs replied (Doc. #109).
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I.
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Facts and Procedural History
This is a class action filed on behalf of persons who rented cars at Nevada airports from
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Defendants. In return for the right to operate on-site at these Nevada airports, rental car companies
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like Defendants are required to pay a percentage of their gross revenues to the airports as
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Refers to the Court’s docket entry number.
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“concession fees.” The companies pass along the fees to their customers as surcharges labeled
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“airport concession recovery fees.” At all relevant times, Defendants “unbundled” the surcharges
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from the base rental rate, such that the rental rate quoted to customers did not include the additional
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“airport concession recovery fee,” which was itemized separately in the rental agreement.
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On June 24, 2014, the Court granted summary judgment in favor of Plaintiffs, finding that
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Defendants’ practice of unbundling the surcharges from the base rental rate violated Nevada
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Revised Statute (“NRS”) § 482.31575. Doc. #102. The Court further determined that Plaintiffs
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were entitled to restitution of any airport concession recovery fees that they paid to Defendants
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during the class period. Id. at 22-30. Finally, the Court granted class certification pursuant to
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Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. Doc. #103. Plaintiffs now move the Court to approve notice
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to the class.
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II.
Legal Standard
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Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(c)(2)(B), “the court must direct to class members
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the best notice that is practicable under the circumstances.” This notice must clearly and concisely
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state the following:
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(i) the nature of the action; (ii) the definition of the class certified; (iii) the class claims,
issues, or defenses; (iv) that a class member may enter an appearance through an attorney if
the member so desires; (v) that the court will exclude from the class any member who
requests exclusion; (vi) the time and manner for requesting exclusion; and (vii) the binding
effect of a class judgment on members under Rule 23(c)(3).
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In addition, class members must be notified of motions for attorney’s fees and nontaxable costs.
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Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(h)(1).
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III.
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Discussion
Plaintiffs propose a notice to class members nearly identical to that approved by the Court
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in Sobel v. Hertz, 3:06-cv-00545-LRH-RAM (D. Nev.) (“Sobel”). See Sobel, Doc. #362, Doc.
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#403. Plaintiffs also seek to provide notice to the class members in the same manner as that
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approved by the Court in Sobel. See id. First, Plaintiffs request that notice be sent by e-mail to
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class members, when known, and by first class mail to all class members whose names and
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addresses appear in Defendants’ records. Second, Plaintiffs request that the Court require
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Defendants to pay the cost of notice, without requiring Plaintiffs to post a bond. Defendants
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challenge Plaintiffs’ proposals in both regards. Defendants also urge that Plaintiffs’ proposed
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notice must be modified to comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.
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A.
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In class actions certified under Rule 23(b)(3), “the court shall direct to the members of the
The Form of Notice
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class the best notice practicable under the circumstances, including individual notice to all
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members who can be identified through reasonable effort.” Under this “best notice practicable”
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standard, courts retain considerable discretion to tailor notice to the relevant circumstances: “The
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determination of what efforts to identify and notify are reasonable under the circumstances of the
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case rests in the discretion of the judge before whom the class action is pending.” 3 William B.
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Rubenstein, Alba Conte, and Herbert B. Newberg, Newberg on Class Actions § 8:2 (4th ed. 2007)
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(citation omitted). “When the names and addresses of most class members are known, notice by
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mail is usually preferred.” See id.; see also Manual for Complex Litig. § 21.311 (4th ed. 2004).
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Here, as in Sobel, the Court finds that notice by first class mail in combination with email
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notice is the “best notice practicable under the circumstances.” In Sobel, the Court found that both
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email and first-class mail notice for all class members was appropriate due to the defects in each
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approved method of notice individually (i.e., the sophistication of email filters and the low
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likelihood that people open unrecognized mail, In re Lupron Mktg. & Sales Practices Litig., 228
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F.R.D. 75, 85 n.21 (D. Mass. 2005) (citing a study showing that 75% of direct mail is thrown away
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by the recipient or the recipient’s “gatekeeper” without being opened)). For the same reasons, the
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Court finds that both email and first-class mail is the best notice practicable under the
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circumstances here.
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B.
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Defendants argue that the totality of the circumstances here do not warrant shifting the cost
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The Expense of Notice
of notice to the Defendants without requiring Plaintiffs to post a bond. As the Court noted in
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Sobel, the weight of authority appears to endorse the shifting of costs to the defendant when its
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liability is clearly within sight. See, e.g., Hunt v. Imperial Merch. Servs., Inc., 560 F.3d 1137, 1143
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(9th Cir. 2009) (“These district court decisions point us towards recognizing, as commentators have
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suggested, a general principle that ‘interim litigation costs, including class notice costs, may be
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shifted to defendant after plaintiff's showing of some success on the merits, whether by preliminary
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injunction, partial summary judgment, or other procedure.’”); Macarz v. Transworld Sys., Inc., 201
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F.R.D. 54, 58 (D. Conn. 2001) (agreeing with the plaintiff that “because liability has already been
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determined, defendant bears the cost of notice to the class”) (cited by the Hunt court); 3 Newberg
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on Class Actions § 8:6 (4th ed. 2007) (cited by the Hunt court). Because Defendants’ liability has
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already been determined, the Court finds that Defendants properly bear the costs of notice.
Moreover, the Court rejects Defendants’ argument that Plaintiffs should be required to post
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a bond in the amount of notice costs. While the court in Hunt allowed that “the defendant might
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later be entitled to recover [notice] costs,” the court did not impose any such bond requirement.
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Nor do the circumstances of this case differ from those in Sobel in any significant regard, such that
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the Court would be inclined to reach a different result. Defendants accepted the risk that they
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might have to pay for notice when they stipulated to a schedule that called for simultaneous
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briefing of class certification and summary judgment. Defendants have not asserted that the cost of
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notice would cause them extraordinary hardship. And finally, Defendants’ concern that they will
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face difficulty in collecting reimbursement if summary judgment is reversed on appeal does not
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outweigh the considerations favoring their paying for notice costs. Accordingly, the Court finds
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that Plaintiffs shall not be required to post a bond.
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C.
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Defendants set forth nine proposed modifications to Plaintiffs’ proposed notice. Plaintiffs
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have only one dispute with Defendants’ proposed modifications. Specifically, Defendants seek to
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add the phrase “customers were not damaged” by Defendants’ pricing practices in several places
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throughout the notice. See Doc. #107, p. 7, ¶2. Plaintiffs, however, believe that this statement is
The Content of the Notice
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both unnecessary and confusing. The Court agrees. While the Court determined that Plaintiffs
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were not damaged, they are nevertheless entitled to restitution by virtue of Defendants’ violation of
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NRS 482.31575. Because the distinction may not be understood by non-lawyer class members, the
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Court finds that it is sufficient to merely indicate that the Court found that Plaintiffs are entitled to
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restitution of the amount they paid in airport concession recovery fees. Accordingly, the Court
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rejects Defendants’ proposed modification in paragraph 2 of their Response. See id. at 7, ¶2.
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While Plaintiffs do not raise the issue, the Court also finds that Defendants’ proposed
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modification in paragraph 1 of their Response is potentially confusing. See id. at 7, ¶1.
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Specifically, Defendants propose that the description of the airport concession recovery fee be
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revised to state that it represents a percentage of the amount charged for time and mileage. See id.
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While the Court recognized that Plaintiffs are not entitled to recover any portion of the airport
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concession recovery fee attributable to gross revenue from goods and services other than leasing
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passenger cars, the Court does not believe that the phrase “time and mileage” is an appropriate
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description of the same for purposes of notice to class members. Instead, the Court finds that the
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airport concession recovery fee is more appropriately described as a percentage of the base rental
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rate. Accordingly, the Court accepts in part and rejects in part Defendants’ proposed modification
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in paragraph 1 of their Response. See id. at 7, ¶1.
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Lastly, the Court accepts Defendants’ proposed modifications as set forth in paragraphs 3
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through 9 of their Response. See id. at 8, ¶¶3-9. As these modifications work only minor changes
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to the proposed notice, the parties shall have ten (10) days to submit a joint proposed notice that
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incorporates the aforementioned modifications for final approval by the Court.
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D.
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Defendants do not object to Plaintiffs’ proposed scheduling order. Accordingly, the Court
Scheduling Order
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adopts Plaintiffs’ proposed scheduling order with the following minor revisions:
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Submission to Court of Joint Proposed Notice
10 days from date of entry of this order
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Publication of Notice to Class
90 days from date of entry of order addressing
notice-content objections
Fee Application Deadline (including deadline
for Objectors to file fee and cost applications)
90 days from date of entry of order addressing
notice-content objections
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Deadline for Opting Out of Class and/or
Objecting to Fee Application
60 days from Notice date
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15 days from opt-out deadline
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Submission of List of Op-outs and Proposed
Rule 58(d) Order Entering Summary Judgment
Ruling
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Replies to any Objections to Fee Application
15 days from objection deadline
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Attorney Fee Hearing
7 or more days following date of reply brief
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Objections to Entry of Proposed Judgment
21 days from proposed judgment deadline
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Responses to Objections to Entry of Proposed
Judgment
15 days from deadline for objections
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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Approval of Proposed Notice
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(#104) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part in accordance with this Order. The parties shall
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submit a joint proposed notice for final approval within ten (10) days of the issuance of this Order.
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Thereafter, the parties are authorized to make non-substantive changes to the notice, as long as they
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are acceptable to both parties, to reflect deadlines, mailing addresses, and similar information or to
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format the notice for printing.
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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants shall cooperate with Plaintiffs’ counsel in the
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distribution of notice, including providing to a notice administrator acceptable to all parties within
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thirty (30) days of this order computer-readable records sufficient to provide notice to all class
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members. The parties are directed to cooperate in the data transfer relating to the notice. No later
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than ninety (90) days from the issuance of this Order, notice substantially in the form approved of
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by the Court shall be distributed by e-mail to those customers for whom e-mail addresses are
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available, and by first class mail to all members of the class who can be identified from
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Defendants’ records. Plaintiffs’ counsel shall establish a website to make available key Court
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Orders in this case, and to facilitate submission of opt-out requests and address corrections.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants shall pay the cost of providing notice and
related expenses.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Berger & Montague, P.C. and Robertson, Johnson, Miller
& Williamson shall serve as Class Counsel.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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DATED this 19th day of September, 2014.
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LARRY R. HICKS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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