Case 3:07-md AWT Document 527 Filed 05/08/15 Page 1 of 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT

Transcription

1 Case 3:07-md AWT Document 527 Filed 05/08/15 Page 1 of 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT In re U.S. Foodservice, Inc. Pricing Litigation Case No. 3:07-md-1894 (AWT) This Document Relates To: All Matters CONSENT MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO DISTRIBUTE NET SETTLEMENT FUND Pursuant to Rule 7(b) of the Local Civil Rules of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, Plaintiffs hereby move, with the consent of Defendant U.S. Foodservice, Inc., ( USF ), for an extension of the deadline to distribute Net Settlement Fund from June 8, 2015 to August 31, The reason for the requested extension is that Class Counsel and the Court-approved claims administrator, Gilardi, LLC ( Gilardi ) received a larger-than-anticipated number of claims by claimants who have opted to support their claims with independentlysubmitted documentation as opposed to accepting claim amounts automatically calculated from Defendant s sales data. In support of this Motion, the Plaintiffs represent as follows: On December 9, 2014, this Court granted Plaintiffs Motion for Final Approval and set the deadline to distribute the net settlement fund 180 days thereafter, which is June 8, 2015 (Dkt. 521) ( the Final Approval Order ). Under the Final Approval Order, the claim deadline was set for December 19, In order to accommodate last-minute requests to file late claims, the claims-filing website remained accessible through December 31, Throughout the claim-filing period, many class members filed incomplete placeholder claims, and claims that require the review of separate 1 Undersigned Counsel for the Class intends to move the Court for permission to accept bona fide late filed claims as part of its upcoming motion for approval of distribution of the net settlement proceeds.

2 Case 3:07-md AWT Document 527 Filed 05/08/15 Page 2 of 5 documentation submitted by the claimants who elected not to accept claim amounts calculated from Defendant s sales data. After the close of the claim deadline, Class Counsel and Gilardi reviewed the filed claims and determined that there were 2,578 claims where the claimants opted to substantiate their claims through independent documentation as opposed to accepting claim amounts calculated from Defendant s sales data. Of those 2,578 claims, Class Counsel and Gilardi determined that 2,529 were deficient for lack of sufficient supporting documentation. Consequently, Gilardi sent deficiency notices to those 2,529 claimants, requesting that those claimants either: accept the amount calculated for them from Defendant s sales data or provide additional documentation in support of their claims. Class Counsel fixed a deadline of April 30, 2015 for the submission of additional supporting materials. Class Counsel and Gilardi now have several steps they must complete before the net settlement funds can be distributed, including: 1. Resolution of Deficiency Letters: Reviewing the supplemental documentation submitted in response to deficiency letters is a time-consuming and manual-labor intensive exercise. In addition, Class Counsel and Gilardi may need to send additional rounds of deficiency letters in the event that claimants responses do not include sufficient information to support their claims. Each letter sent will include a reasonable amount of response time, so the cycle of mailing the letter and allowing the response time to expire takes roughly a month. 2. De-duplication of Claims: In addition to resolving claim deficiencies, Gilardi will need to compare the claims filed and determine whether there are duplicates. Where there are, Class Counsel and Gilardi will need to determine the priority of the filers and notify the 2

3 Case 3:07-md AWT Document 527 Filed 05/08/15 Page 3 of 5 parties of the determination. While this process sounds simple, it is time and labor intensive, because often the duplication of claims is a result of multiple third-party representatives filing claims on behalf of class members, and/or the class member and a third-party filer filing duplicate claims. Additionally, the deduplication process cannot start until all potential claims and amendments are filed. On average, it takes two months to resolve disputes among claimants when there are duplicate claims. As this process will be occurring during the summer, when many class members and their representatives are likely to be out for vacations, Class Counsel estimates that resolution of these disputes will take longer than average. 3. Calculation of Distribution Amounts and Motion for Approval: Once duplicates and deficiencies are resolved, Class Counsel and Gilardi will calculate the pro rata distribution of the settlement fund amongst claimants and Class Counsel will need to move the Court s approval of the distribution calculations. Thereafter, Gilardi will need to distribute checks and/or wire transfers to the claimants, which on average takes four weeks (from calculation through mailing of checks). This Motion is not filed for the purpose of delay and the granting of this Motion will not prejudice the rights of any parties in this action. Instead, an extension to August 31, 2015 to distribute the net settlement fund will allow Class Counsel and Gilardi sufficient time to properly vet the claims submitted and distribute the net settlement fund in a fair manner to as many class members as possible. In the meantime, the settlement fund continues to earn interest which will be distributed pro rata among all approved claims. 3

4 Case 3:07-md AWT Document 527 Filed 05/08/15 Page 4 of 5 For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiffs, with the consent of Defendant USF, respectfully request that the Court extend the deadline to distribute the net settlement fund from June 8, 2015 to August 31, A proposed Order is attached for the Court s consideration. Dated: May 8, Respectfully submitted, HUNTON & WILLIAMS, LLP By: /s/ Richard L. Wyatt, Jr.. Richard L. Wyatt, Jr. Todd M. Stenerson Torsten M. Kracht Ryan P. Phair 2200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C (202) WHATLEY, DRAKE & KALLAS, LLC Joe R. Whatley, Jr. 380 Madison Ave., 23rd Floor New York, NY (212) DRUBNER & HARTLEY LLC James E. Hartley, Jr. 500 Chase Parkway Waterbury, CT (203) and Charles Hellman 1540 Broadway, 37th Floor New York, NY (212) AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD LLP R. Laurence Macon 300 Convent Street, Suite 1600 San Antonio, Texas (210)

5 Case 3:07-md AWT Document 527 Filed 05/08/15 Page 5 of 5 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Torsten M. Kracht, hereby certify that on this 8th day of May, 2015, I caused an copy of the foregoing Consent Motion to Extend Time to Distribute the Net Settlement Fund to be filed electronically on the CM/EMF system for the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, and sent a copy via to the following counsel: Glenn M. Kurtz Douglas P. Baumstein White & Case LLP 1155 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY gkurtz@whitecase.com dbaumstein@whitecase.com By: /s/ Torsten M. Kracht Torsten M. Kracht 5