Judge: Armen Tamzarian, Case: BC712959, Date: 2024-12-03 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: BC712959    Hearing Date: December 3, 2024    Dept: 52

Plaintiffs Stephen McFadyen, Seth Blackham, and Monica Garcia’s Renewed Unopposed 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 Class Action & Claims Solutions, Inc. (Epiq) from $300,000 to $442,062.41. 

Plaintiffs show good cause for such an order.  Plaintiffs submitted a declaration from Michelle LaCount, a project manager at Epiq.  (LaCount Decl., ¶ 1.)  She describes the additional efforts Epiq took to administer the settlement, including a second distribution of payments.  (Id., ¶¶ 6-12.)  LaCount testifies, “Because the administration of this Settlement took longer than anticipated and the necessity to conduct a secondary, residual distribution, Epiq incurred an additional $142,062.41 in administration costs related to: (1) efforts to promote cashing of initial payment round checks; (2) fees and expenses related to the secondary, residual distribution; and (3) final closing costs for the matter.”  (Id., ¶ 12.) 

Plaintiffs’ renewed motion to amend order granting final settlement approval is granted.  The court will sign the proposed order plaintiffs submitted.