Judge: Armen Tamzarian, Case: BC712959, Date: 2024-02-06 Tentative Ruling

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Case Number: BC712959    Hearing Date: February 6, 2024    Dept: 52

Plaintiffs Stephen McFadyen, Seth Blackham, and Monica Garcia’s Motion to Amend Order Granting Final Settlement Approval

Plaintiffs Stephen McFadyen, Seth Blackham, and Monica Garcia move to amend the court’s order granting final approval of class action settlement.  They move to increase the allocation of expenses to settlement administrator Epiq from $300,000 to $442,062.41. 

Plaintiffs present insufficient evidence to warrant increasing the settlement allocation to Epiq by $142,062.41.  Plaintiffs’ only evidence is the declaration of attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan.  She states Epiq incurred additional expenses doing a second distribution of payments to 7,181 class members in 2023.  (Liss-Riordan Decl., ¶¶ 4-5.)  She testifies, “As a result of the work associated with extending the claims period and administering a second distribution, Epiq has incurred $142,062.41 in administration costs that it did not anticipate and account for in its initial estimate of the cost of administering this settlement.”  (Id., ¶ 7.)  Plaintiffs, however, submit no evidence by a representative of Epiq with personal knowledge of its expenses.  Nor do they submit an invoice or other documentary evidence of Epiq’s expenses. 

Plaintiffs’ motion to amend order granting final settlement approval is denied without prejudice.