SAN
FRANCISCO /PRNewswire/ -- The following is being
released by the law firms of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP;
Gustafson Gluek PLLC; Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P; and Lovell
Stewart Halebian Jacobson LLP.
If individuals or
companies used the services of certain freight forwarders, they may
be entitled to a potentially significant cash payment from class
action Settlements. This is the second notice in this case.
Settlements have now been reached with 19 additional Defendants.
Settlements were previously reached with 10 Defendants.
A full list of all Defendants is available at the settlement
website: www.FreightForwardCase.com.
The Settlements
involve a lawsuit claiming that certain freight forwarding
companies secretly agreed to prices for their freight forwarding
services worldwide, including on routes in the U.S. and between the
U.S. and MainlandChina, Hong
Kong, Japan, Taiwan, India, Germany,
the U.K. and other parts of Europe.
Some of the companies ("Settling Defendants") that were sued have
agreed to Settlements. The Settling Defendants deny that they
did anything wrong. The lawsuit continues against the
Non-Settling Defendants.
Freight
Forwarders provide transportation, or logistics
services for shipments relating to the organization or
transportation of items via air and ocean, which may include
ancillary rail and truck services, both nationally and
internationally, as well as related activities, such as customs
clearance, warehousing, and ground services.
A Class Member is
included in one or more of the Settlements if they: 1) Directly
purchased Freight Forwarding Services; 2) from any of the Settling
or Non-Settling Defendants, their subsidiaries, or affiliates; 3)
from January
1, 2001 through January
4, 2011; 4) in the U.S., or outside the U.S. for shipments
within, to, or from the U.S. All you need to know is in the
full Notice, located at www.FreightForwardCase.com,
including information on who is or is not a Class Member.
The Settling
Defendants will establish a Settlement Fund with a minimum
of $197.6
million. The amount of benefits for each purchaser
will be determined by the Plan of Allocation, which is posted
atwww.FreightForwardCase.com.
Important
Information
Purchasers will need to submit a Claim Form, online or by mail,
by March 31,
2016 to get a payment from the Settlements. If
purchasers already submitted a Claim Form for the first round of
Settlements, they do not need to file a new claim. They will
automatically be paid from this second round of Settlements.
Purchasers who do nothing will not get a payment and give up the
right to sue.
Purchasers who want to keep the right to sue the Settling
Defendants must exclude themselves bySeptember 18,
2015.
Purchasers who stay in the Settlements can object to them
by September 18,
2015.
The Court will
hold a hearing on November 2,
2015 to consider whether to approve (1) the
Settlements and (2) a request for attorneys' fees up to 33% of the
Settlement Fund, plus interest, and reimbursement for litigation
expenses. At the end of this litigation Class Counsel may ask
the Court to award each Class Representative an amount not to
exceed $75,000 in
recognition of each Class Representative's service in recovering
funds for the Class.
For more
information regarding the Settlements and Class Member rights,
please visitwww.FreightForwardCase.com,
call 1-877-276-7340 (U.S. & Canada)
or 1-503-520-4400 (International), or write to: Freight Forwarders
Claims Administrator, P.O. Box 3747, Portland,
OR, 97208-3747.
Source:
Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP
Gustafson Gluek, PLLC
Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P and Lovell, Stewart, Halebian,
Jacobson LLP
Related Links:
http://www.FreightForwardCase.com