Preliminary Approval of Proposed Settlement. The Settlement Agreement is hereby preliminarily approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate. This Court preliminarily finds that:
a) The Settlement was negotiated vigorously and at arm’s-length, through a Court-supervised settlement conference, by Defense Counsel, on the one hand, the Named Plaintiffs and Class Counsel on behalf of the Settlement Class, on the other hand;
b) Named Plaintiffs and Class Counsel had sufficient information to evaluate the settlement value of the Action and have concluded that the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate;
c) If the Settlement had not been achieved, Named Plaintiffs and the Settlement Class, faced the expense, risk, and uncertainty of protracted litigation;
d) The amount of the Settlement – one million, eight hundred thousand dollars ($1,800,000.00) is fair, reasonable, and adequate, taking into account the costs, risks, and delay of litigation, trial, and appeal. The method of distributing the Class Settlement Amount is efficient, relying on Defendants’ records and requiring no filing of claims. The Settlement terms related to attorneys’ fees do not raise any questions concerning fairness of the Settlement, and there are no agreements, apart from the Settlement, required to be considered under FED. R. CIV. P. 23(e)(2)(C)(iv). The Class Settlement Amount is within the range of settlement values obtained in similar cases;
e) At all times, the Named Plaintiffs and Class Counsel have acted independently of the Defendants and in the interest of the Settlement Class; and
f) The proposed Plan of Allocation is fair, reasonable, and adequate.
Preliminary Approval of Proposed Settlement. The Agreement, including all exhibits 26 thereto, is preliminarily approved as fair, reasonable and adequate and within the range of 27 reasonableness for preliminary settlement approval. The Court finds that: (a) the Agreement resulted 28 from extensive arm’s length negotiations; and (b) the Agreement is sufficient to warrant notice of the 1 Settlement to persons in the Settlement Class and a full hearing on the approval of the Settlement.
Preliminary Approval of Proposed Settlement. The Court has conducted a preliminary evaluation of the Settlement as set forth in the Agreement. Based on this preliminary evaluation, the Court finds that: (a) the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and within the range of possible approval; (b) the Settlement has been negotiated in good faith at arm’s length between experienced attorneys familiar with the legal and factual issues of this case; (c) with respect to the forms of notice of the material terms of the Settlement to Settlement Class Members for their consideration (Exhibits B, G, and E to the Agreement), that notice provides due and sufficient notice to Settlement Class Members and fully satisfies the requirements of due process and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23; and (d) with respect to the proposed notice plan, the notice program constitutes the best notice practicable under the circumstances. Therefore, the Court grants preliminary approval of the Settlement.
Preliminary Approval of Proposed Settlement. The Settlement Agreement is hereby preliminarily approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate. This Court preliminarily finds that:
a) The Settlement was negotiated vigorously and at arm’s-length, under the auspices of the Mediator, by Defendant and Defense Counsel, on the one hand, and Plaintiffs and Class Counsel on behalf of the Settlement Class, on the other hand;
b) Plaintiffs and Class Counsel had sufficient information to evaluate the settlement value of the Class Action and have concluded that the Settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate;
c) If the Settlement had not been achieved, Plaintiffs and the Settlement Class faced the expense, risk, and uncertainty of protracted litigation;
d) The amount of the Settlement – five million dollars ($5,000,000.00) is fair, reasonable, and adequate, taking into account the costs, risks, and delay of litigation, trial, and appeal. The method of distributing the Gross Settlement Amount is efficient, relying on Defendant’s records and requiring no filing of claims. The Settlement terms related to attorneys’ fees do not raise any questions concerning fairness of the Settlement, and there are no agreements, apart from the Settlement, required to be considered under FED. R. CIV. P. 23(e)(2)(C)(iv). The Gross Settlement Amount is within the range of settlement values obtained in similar cases;
e) At all times, Plaintiffs and Class Counsel have acted independently of Defendant and in the interest of the Settlement Class; and
f) The proposed Plan of Allocation is fair, reasonable, and adequate.
Preliminary Approval of Proposed Settlement. The Agreement, including all exhibits
Preliminary Approval of Proposed Settlement. The Court has conducted a preliminary evaluation of the Settlement as set forth in the Agreement. Based on this evaluation, the Court finds that giving notice of the proposed Settlement to the Settlement Class is justified by the Parties’ showing that the Court will likely be able to: (i) approve the proposal under Fed.
Preliminary Approval of Proposed Settlement. The Court hereby preliminarily approves the Settlement Agreement and the Settlement set forth therein as fair, adequate and reasonable, subject to further consideration at the Final Fairness1 Hearing. The Court finds on a preliminary basis that the Settlement as set forth in the Settlement Agreement falls within the range of reasonableness and was the product of informed, good faith, arm’s length negotiations between the Parties and their counsel, and therefore meets the requirements for preliminary approval. The Court further preliminarily finds that the proposed distribution of the Settlement Payments to the Settlement Class Members set forth in Exhibit “A” to the Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and hereby is preliminarily approved, subject to further consideration at the Final Fairness Hearing.
1 The Settlement Agreement refers to this as the Final Approval Hearing.
Preliminary Approval of Proposed Settlement. The Agreement, 9 including all exhibits thereto, is preliminarily approved as fair, reasonable and
Preliminary Approval of Proposed Settlement. The Settlement Stipulation is hereby preliminarily approved as fair, reasonable and adequate. This Court preliminarily finds that: (a) the Settlement resulted from serious, informed, extensive and arms’-length negotiations with the assistance of the Mediator; (b) the Settlement Stipulation was executed only after Class Counsel had conducted appropriate investigation and discovery regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the Named Plaintiffs’ claims; (c) Class Counsel represent that they believe that the Settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate; and (d) the Settlement is in the best interest of the Named Plaintiffs and the Settlement Class. The Court finds that those whose claims would be settled, compromised, dismissed, or released pursuant to the Settlement should be given notice and an opportunity to be heard regarding final approval of the Settlement and other matters.
Preliminary Approval of Proposed Settlement. The Court has conducted a preliminary evaluation of the Settlement as set forth in the Agreement. Based on this preliminary evaluation, the Court finds that: (a) the Settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate, and within the range of possible approval; (b) the Settlement has been negotiated in good faith at arm's length between experienced attorneys familiar with the legal and factual issues of this case;
