Judge: Robert C. Longstreth, Case: 37-2020-00022900-CU-BT-CTL, Date: 2023-12-29 Tentative Ruling

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,

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HALL OF JUSTICE

TENTATIVE RULINGS - December 28, 2023

12/29/2023  08:30:00 AM  C-65 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO

JUDICIAL OFFICER:Robert Longstreth

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Civil - Unlimited  Business Tort Motion Hearing (Civil) 37-2020-00022900-CU-BT-CTL CECENA VS WINSTON BRANDS INC [E-FILE] CAUSAL DOCUMENT/DATE FILED: Motion - Other, 12/04/2023

Plaintiffs' Motion for Final Approval of Class Action Settlement (ROA 162) is GRANTED.

Settlement administration costs are approved in the amount of $62,000.00, though the court notes this amount exceeded the initial estimate of $51,500.00.

Plaintiffs' requests for service awards are granted, but reduced to $2,500.00 for Plaintiff Cecena and $1,000.00 for Plaintiffs Leon, Bernier, and Brice. No declarations were submitted by Plaintiffs in support of the requests for service awards, and the single paragraph in Plaintiffs' counsel's declaration that addresses the service awards does not provide any information as to the time spent by the named plaintiffs on the identified tasks, or as to any expense they have incurred.

Plaintiffs' counsel's request for fees is granted as requested in the amount of $262,200.00 after the court conducted a lodestar cross-check.

Plaintiffs' request for costs is approved in the amount of $29,584.67.

The proposed cy pres recipients, Consumer Federation of California and San Francisco Consumer Action, are approved.

The court sets a settlement administration compliance hearing for June 7, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. Plaintiff is to file a declaration from the administrator regarding the status of funding on or before May 29, 2024.

Plaintiff is to submit a revised Proposed Order and Judgment reflecting the reduced amount approved for Plaintiffs' service awards, the compliance hearing, and the deadline to submit the administrator's declaration within five (5) days.

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