Rule 23(e) places the burden of persuasion on the movers that the proposed settlement is “fair, reasonable, and adequate.” In re Chinese-Manufactured Drywall Prods. Liab. Litig., 2012 WL 92498, at *7 (E.D. La. Jan. 10, 2012). If the proposed settlement “discloses no reason to doubt its fairness, has no obvious deficiencies, does not improperly grant preferential treatment to class representatives or segments of the class, does not grant excessive compensation to attorneys, and appears to fall within the range of possible approval, the court should grant preliminary approval.” In re OCA, Inc. Sec. & Deriv. Litig., No. 05-2165, 2008 WL 4681369, at *11 (E.D. La. Oct. 17, 2008).
On May 2, 2012, the MDL 2179 Court entered a Preliminary Approval Order [As to the Proposed Economic and Property Damages Class Action Settlement].
On July 2, 2012, Plaintiff Selmer M. Salvesen, a clam farmer in Florida, filed a Motion to Vacate Preliminary Approval Order [As to the Proposed Economic and Property Damages Class Action Settlement], Rec. Doc. 6418 dated May 2, 2012, with the MDL 2179 Court because the class action settlement is clearly not "fair, reasonable, and adequate."
Click here to download the memorandum of law in support of the motion.
HOW TO OPT-OUT
Not surprisingly, the Class Action Settlement Notices do not provide “Class Members” with an “Opt-Out” form. Furthermore, the information required to properly opt-out of the Medical Benefits Class Action Settlement, and the mailing address to where the opt-out notice must be sent, differs from the information required and the mailing address to properly opt-out of the Economic and Property Damages Class Action Settlement.
Click here to download a sample Deepwater Horizon Economic and Property Damages Class Action Settlement Opt-Out Notice.
Click here to download a sample Deepwater Horizon Medical Benefits Class Action Settlement Opt-Out Notice.
Tue Jan 01, 2013 at 6:21 AM PT: Updates:
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These 14 questions must be answered in order for MDL 2179 and the class settlement to have credibility.