Koumoulis et al v. LPL financial Corporation, No. 3:2009cv01973 - Document 34 (S.D. Cal. 2010)
Court Description: ORDER granting 27 Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement. LPL shall, within ten (10) days of this Order, serve upon the appropriate State official of each State in which a a Class Member resides and the Attorney General of the U nited States a notice of the proposed settlement in compliance with the requirements of CAFA. The Claims Administrator will, within forty (40) days of the entry of this Order, send the Notice of Pendency of Class Action and Opportunity to Opt In, Pr oposed Settlement and Hearing Date for Court Approval, together with a Claim Form and an Exclusion Form, to the Class Members in accordance with paragraph 32 of the Joint Stipulation of Settlement and Release. The deadline to file a motion for final approval shall be twenty-one (21) days prior to the scheduled date of the Final Approval Hearing. (Final Approval Hearing set for 11/1/2010 09:30 AM in Courtroom 02 before Magistrate Judge Barbara Lynn Major.) Signed by Magistrate Judge Barbara Lynn Major on 7/14/10. (lao)
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Koumoulis et al v. LPL financial Corporation Doc. 34 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 12 TASSO KOUMOULIS, ROBERT EARL, and CHRISTOS HATZIS, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, 13 Plaintiffs, 14 v. 15 16 LPL FINANCIAL CORPORATION, a California Corporation, 17 Defendant. 18 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No. 09cv1973-BLM ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT [Doc. No. 27] 19 20 Class Plaintiffs Tasso Koumoulis, Robert Earl, and Christos Hatzis 21 (“Plaintiffs”) filed a motion requesting the setting of a fairness 22 hearing, 23 preliminary certification of the class for the purpose of settlement, 24 approval of the form and content of the Notice, Claim Form and Exclusion 25 Form, approval of the method of providing notice to the class, approval 26 of Class Counsel, Class Representatives, and Claims Administrator, and 27 declaring a settlement date, and the setting of a final fairness and 28 approval hearing. preliminary approval Doc. No. 27. of the class action settlement, Plaintiffs’ motion is supported by the 09cv1973-BLM Dockets.Justia.com 1 Declaration of Mark R. Thierman, which sets forth the Joint Stipulation 2 of Settlement and Release and proposed forms. 3 Stipulation of Settlement Release was executed by all parties in two 4 documents. 5 hearing, Plaintiffs submitted a modified Notice of Pendency of Class 6 Action and Opportunity to Opt In, Proposed Settlement and Hearing Date 7 for Court Approval, which was filed on July 14, 2010. 8 9 Id. at 9-31; Doc. No. 31. Having considered the The Joint After the preliminary fairness submitted documents Doc. No. 33. and the court proceedings, the Court hereby finds that: 10 (a) The proposed settlement has been negotiated at arms’ length and 11 is 12 reasonable, 13 Settlement Class (as hereinafter defined); 14 Doc. No. 27-1. not collusive, and adequate, is and preliminarily in the best determined interests to of the be fair, proposed (b) With respect to the proposed Settlement Class (as hereinafter 15 defined), 16 effectuating the proposed settlement, that certification is appropriate 17 pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. 18 Court preliminarily finds, solely for purposes of effectuating the 19 proposed settlement, that (1) the members of the proposed Settlement 20 Class are so numerous that joinder of all Settlement Class members is 21 impracticable; (2) there are questions of law and fact common to the 22 proposed 23 Representative plaintiffs are typical of the claims of the members of 24 the proposed Settlement Class; (4) the proposed Class Representative 25 plaintiffs and proposed Settlement Class Counsel have and will fairly 26 and adequately protect the interests of the proposed Settlement Class; 27 (5) Class Counsel is competent to represent the Class Representative 28 plaintiffs in their representative capacities; (6) the prosecution of this Court Settlement preliminarily Class; (3) the 2 finds, claims solely of for purposes of In particular, the the proposed Class 09cv1973-BLM 1 separate actions by individual class members could create a risk of 2 inconsistent or varying adjudications or, as a practical matter, be 3 dispositive of the interests of other class members not parties to the 4 individual adjudications; (7) the questions of law and fact common to 5 members of the proposed Settlement Class predominate over questions 6 affecting only individual members; and (8) a class action is superior to 7 other available methods of fairly and efficiently adjudicating the 8 controversy; and 9 (c) The form of the Notice of Pendency of Class Action and 10 Opportunity to Opt In, Proposed Settlement and Hearing Date for Court 11 Approval (doc. no. 33), and the method of providing such Notice to the 12 proposed Settlement Class (as described and defined in the Joint 13 Stipulation of Settlement and Release), comply with Rule 23 of the 14 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and with due process, constitute the 15 best notice practicable under the circumstances, and provide due and 16 sufficient notice to all persons entitled to notice of the settlement of 17 this litigation. 18 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED THAT: 19 1. The proposed settlement as reflected in the Joint Stipulation of 20 Settlement and Release (doc. no. 27-1) and modified in the Notice of 21 Pendency of Class Action and Opportunity to Opt In, Proposed Settlement 22 and Hearing Date for Court Approval (doc. no. 33) is preliminarily 23 determined to be fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests 24 of the Settlement Class (as hereinafter defined). The settlement is 25 therefore preliminarily approved. 26 2. For purposes of effectuating the settlement only, the following 27 class (the “Settlement Class”) is conditionally certified and approved: 28 3 09cv1973-BLM 1 2 3 4 5 6 The named Plaintiffs, Tasso Koumoulis, Robert Earl, and Christos Hatzis, and all employees of IFMG Corporation (“IFMG”) and/or LPL Financial Coporation (“LPL”) who were employed by IFMG and/or LPL in the state of New York, including individuals employed at IFMG and/or IFMG employees who thereafter became employed by LPL during the Covered Period (defined in section II. C. and II. D. of the Notice of Pendency of Class Action and Opportunity to Opt In, Proposed Settlement and Hearing Date for Court Approval) doing the work of the following positions (“Covered Positions”): financial advisors, stock brokers, registered representatives, investment consultants, or financial consultants. 7 See Doc. No. 33 at 2 n.1. 8 3. Tasso Koumoulis, Robert Earl, and Christos Hatzis are designated 9 and appointed representatives of the Settlement Class. 10 4. Mark R. Thierman and the Thierman Law Firm are designated and 11 appointed as Settlement Class Counsel. 12 5. The Parties’ mutually agreed upon Claims Administrator, Rust 13 Consulting Inc., is designated and appointed as Claims Administrator. 14 6. The Notice of Pendency of Class Action and Opportunity to Opt 15 In, Proposed Settlement and Hearing Date for Court Approval, and the 16 Claim Form and the Exclusion Form attached thereto, are approved. 17 7. LPL shall, within ten (10) days of this Order, serve upon the 18 appropriate State official of each State in which a a Class Member 19 resides and the Attorney General of the United States a notice of the 20 proposed settlement in compliance with the requirements of CAFA. 21 8. LPL shall, within thirty (30) days of this Order, provide the 22 Claims Administrator with a database of all putative Class Members in 23 accordance with the provisions set forth in paragraph 34 of the Joint 24 Stipulation of Settlement and Release (doc. no. 27-1). 25 9. The Claims Administrator will, within forty (40) days of the 26 entry of this Order, send the Notice of Pendency of Class Action and 27 Opportunity to Opt In, Proposed Settlement and Hearing Date for Court 28 4 09cv1973-BLM 1 Approval, together with a Claim Form and an Exclusion Form, to the Class 2 Members in accordance with paragraph 32 of the Joint Stipulation of 3 Settlement and Release. 4 Action and Opportunity to Opt In, Proposed Settlement and Hearing Date 5 for Court Approval, Claim Form, and Exclusion Form in accordance with 6 paragraphs 32-37 of the Joint Stipulation of Settlement and Release will 7 constitute the “Class Notice.” 8 fully complies with the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9 23 and due process, constitutes the best notice practicable under the 10 circumstances, and is sufficient notice to all persons entitled to 11 notice of the proposed settlement. The sending of the Notice of Pendency of Class The Court finds that this Class Notice 12 10. Members of the Settlement Class may request exclusion from the 13 Settlement Class and object to or comment on the proposed settlement as 14 provided in the Notice of Pendency of Class Action and Opportunity to 15 Opt In, Proposed Settlement and Hearing Date for Court Approval. 16 Members of the Settlement Class must comply with the requirements and 17 deadlines set forth in the 18 Opportunity to Opt In, Proposed Settlement and Hearing Date for Court 19 Approval. 20 21 Notice of Pendency of Class Action and 11. The date of this Order is deemed the settlement date for the purposes of CAFA notice to the appropriate officials. 22 12. A hearing to determine whether the settlement should be given 23 final approval, and to determine whether the requested attorneys’ fees, 24 enhancements to Class Representatives, and Costs of Administration (as 25 discussed in Sections II. J., K., and L. of the Notice of Pendency of 26 Class Action and Opportunity to Opt In, Proposed Settlement and Hearing 27 Date for Court Approval) should be approved by the Court (the “Final 28 Approval Hearing”), will be conducted on November 1, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. 5 09cv1973-BLM 1 in Courtroom 2. 2 be twenty-one (21) days prior to the scheduled date of the Final 3 Approval Hearing. The deadline to file a motion for final approval shall 4 13. The Court may, for good cause, extend any of the deadlines set 5 forth in this Order or adjourn or continue the Final Approval Hearing 6 without further notice to the Settlement Class. 7 IT IS SO ORDERED. 8 9 DATED: July 14, 2010 10 11 BARBARA L. MAJOR United States Magistrate Judge 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -6- 09cv1973-DMS (BLM)
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