Briggs v. Adel

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedMay 31, 2024
Docket2:18-cv-02684
StatusUnknown

This text of Briggs v. Adel (Briggs v. Adel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Briggs v. Adel, (D. Ariz. 2024).

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Deshawn Briggs, et al., No. CV-18-02684-PHX-EJM 10 Plaintiffs, FINAL CLASS ACTION 11 v. SETTLEMENT APPROVAL ORDER

12 William Montgomery, et al., 13 Defendants. 14 Currently pending before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Unopposed Motion for Final 15 Approval of a Class Action Settlement with Incorporated Memorandum of Law (Doc. 423), 16 Plaintiffs’ Supplemental Unopposed Motion for Final Approval of a Class Action 17 Settlement with Incorporated Memorandum of Law (Doc. 425), and Plaintiffs’ Unopposed 18 Motion for Attorneys’ Fees (Doc. 428). Following the May 7, 2024, Fairness Hearing held 19 pursuant to Rule 23(e)(2), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Plaintiffs filed a Proposed 20 Final Order and Judgment Approving Class Action Settlement (Doc. 427) for the Court’s 21 review. Having fully considered the motions (Doc. 423, 425, 428), the Parties’ arguments 22 and submissions regarding the same, and the applicable facts and law, IT IS HEREBY 23 ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ Unopposed Motion for Final Approval of a Class Action 24 Settlement with Incorporated Memorandum of Law (Doc. 423), Plaintiffs’ Supplemental 25 Unopposed Motion for Final Approval of a Class Action Settlement with Incorporated 26 Memorandum of Law (Doc. 425), and Plaintiffs’ Unopposed Motion for Attorneys’ Fees 27 (Doc. 428) are GRANTED. 28 . . . 1 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED as follows: 2 1. Jurisdiction. The Court has personal jurisdiction over Named Plaintiffs 3 Deshawn Briggs, Lucia Soria, and Antonio Pascale (on behalf of the Estate of Mark 4 Pascale) (collectively, “Named Plaintiffs”), Defendant Treatment Assessment and 5 Screening Center, Inc. (“TASC”), and all Settlement Class Members. Moreover, this Court 6 has subject matter jurisdiction to approve the Settlement, Settlement Agreement, all 7 exhibits thereto, and the Amendment to the Settlement Agreement. 8 2. Final Settlement Approval. The Court approves the Settlement Agreement 9 and the Amendment to the Settlement Agreement reached by Named Plaintiffs and 10 Defendant TASC (the “Settlement”). The Court finds that the Settlement Agreement, the 11 Settlement set forth therein, the Amendment to the Settlement Agreement, all exhibits 12 attached to the Settlement Agreement, the Unopposed Motion for Final Approval of Class 13 Action Settlement, and the Supplemental Motion for Final Approval are fair, reasonable, 14 and adequate, entered into in good faith, free of collusion to the detriment of the Settlement 15 Class, and consistent and in compliance with all requirements of due process and applicable 16 law, as to and in the best interests of all Parties. The Court directs the Parties and their 17 counsel to implement and consummate the Settlement in accordance with its terms and 18 provisions. 19 3. Class. For purposes of this Judgment (and for settlement purposes only), the 20 Court certifies the following class: 21 All individuals who, at any time between August 23, 2016, and August 15, 2020, (1) were enrolled in the marijuana diversion program (POM) operated 22 by Defendants TASC and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO); 23 and (2) at some point in time during their enrollment, satisfied all program requirements for successful completion other than payment of program fees; 24 and (3) after that point in time, were required to remain on the program solely 25 because they had not paid the required fees, without any determination that their nonpayment was willful. 26 27 4. Named Plaintiffs. For purposes of this Judgment (and for settlement 28 purposes only), the Court appoints Deshawn Briggs, Lucia Soria, and Antonio Pascale (as 1 the duly appointed representative of the Estate of Mark Pascale) as representatives of the 2 Settlement Class. 3 5. Class Counsel. For settlement purposes only, the Court appoints the 4 following attorneys to act as Class Counsel for the Settlement Class: 5 Sumayya Saleh CIVIL RIGHTS CORPS 6 1601 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 800 7 Washington, D.C. 20009 8 9 Stanley Young COVINGTON & BURLING LLP 10 3000 El Camino Real, 5 Palo Alto Square, 10th Floor 11 Palo Alto, California 94306 12 13 Timothy Eckstein, 018321 OSBORN MALEDON, P.A. 14 2929 N. Central Ave., Suite 2100 15 Phoenix, Arizona 85012-2793 16 17 6. Adequate Representation. The Court finds that Class Counsel and the 18 Named Plaintiffs adequately represented the Settlement Class for purposes of entering into 19 and implementing the Settlement and Settlement Agreement. 20 7. Res judicata. The Court declares this Settlement Agreement and Final 21 Order and Judgment to be binding on and have res judicata and preclusive effect in all 22 pending and future lawsuits or other proceedings encompassed by the Release Provisions 23 maintained by or on behalf of the Named Plaintiffs and all Settlement Class Members, as 24 well as their respective present, former, and future administrators, agents, assigns, 25 attorneys, executors, heirs, partners, predecessors-in-interest, and successors. 26 8. Settlement Administrator. The Court previously appointed the Settlement 27 Administrator designated by the Parties, Atticus Administration, LLC, in accordance with 28 1 the Settlement Agreement. (Doc. 419 at 3.1) The Settlement Administrator shall be an 2 agent of the Court and subject to the Court’s supervision and direction as circumstances 3 may require. 4 9. CAFA Notice. Defendant TASC properly and timely notified the 5 appropriate government officials of the Settlement pursuant to the Class Action Fairness 6 Act of 2005 (“CAFA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1715. The Court has reviewed the substance of 7 Defendant’s notice and finds that it complied with all applicable CAFA requirements. 8 Further, Defendant’s CAFA notice preceded the Fairness Hearing by more than ninety (90) 9 days. (See Doc. 424.) 10 10. Notice Program. The Court finds that the Settlement Class Notice Program 11 constituted the best practicable notice, and constituted notice that was reasonably 12 calculated, under the circumstances, to apprise the Settlement Class: (a) of the pendency 13 of the Litigation and the essential terms of the Settlement; (b) of the procedures for 14 allocating the Settlement Fund; (c) of any requested amounts for Attorneys’ Fee Awards 15 and/or Service Payments; (d) of the right of members of the Settlement Class to exclude 16 themselves from the Settlement Class and the proposed Settlement; (e) of the right of 17 members of the Settlement Class to seek monetary and other relief; (f) that any judgment, 18 whether favorable or not, will bind all members of the Settlement Class who do not request 19 exclusion; (g) that any member of the Settlement Class who does not request exclusion 20 may object to the Settlement, the request for Attorneys’ Fee Awards and/or Service 21 Payments and, if he or she desires, enter an appearance personally or through counsel; (h) 22 of the time and place of the Final Fairness Hearing and of their right to appear at the Final 23 Fairness Hearing; and (i) of the name and address of Class Counsel and the Settlement 24 Administrator as well as the procedure for making inquiries. The Court finds that the 25 Settlement Class Notice Program constituted reasonable, due, adequate, and sufficient 26 notice to all Persons entitled to receive notice and meets all requirements of due process 27 and any other applicable law. The Court further finds that the notices are written in plain 28 1 Page citations refer to the CM/ECF page number for ease of reference. 1 English and are readily understandable by members of the Settlement Class. 2 11. Name and/or Address Update Form.

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Bluebook (online)
Briggs v. Adel, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/briggs-v-adel-azd-2024.