Pointer v. DirecTV LLC

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS WESTERN DIVISION

DAVID POINTER; MICHAEL MONDAY; and MICHAEL HALL, all individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated PLAINTIFFS

4:17-cv-772-DPM

DIRECTV LLC; MOSES CAPITAL GROUP LLC; and MOSES HOLDINGS LLC DEFENDANTS

ORDER 1. Court held a fairness hearing on 13 November 2019. The parties have provided the required notice and all the approved forms to the group/class members. No one filed an objection to the proposed settlement by the deadline. No objector appeared at the hearing. 2. At the hearing, the Court noted that Moses Capital Group, LLC and Moses Holdings, LLC were still in the case. The Court grants Pointer’s unopposed oral motion to dismiss without prejudice all claims against those shadowy entities. 3. The Court approves the proposed settlement and grants the parties’ joint motion for final approval. The fourteen named plaintiffs and opt-in plaintiffs will receive $78,402.72. There were forty potential class claimants. Sixteen had made claims at the time of the November 13th hearing. The claims period expired on 15 November 2019. The class claimants who made timely claims will receive their share

of $165,002.42. Any balance will belong to DirecTV. The agreement meets Rule 23(e)’s requirements: it’s fair, reasonable, and adequate. In reaching its conclusion, the Court has considered the strength of the plaintiffs’ case, the defendant's financial condition, the complexity of additional litigation, and the amount of opposition to the settlement. Keil v. Lopez, 862 F.3d 685, 693-98 (8th Cir.2017); Van Horn v. Trickey, 840 F.2d 604, 607 (8th Cir. 1988). The attorney’s fee was negotiated at arms-length and separate from the merits settlement. Though substantial, the agreed fee—$256,594.86—is reasonable in the circumstances: the work done; the adversarial discovery needed to prepare the case; the efforts by plaintiffs’ counsel to track down potential claimants; and the results. Petrovic v. Amoco Oil Company, 200 F.3d 1140, 1157 (8th Cir. 1999). 4. The parties must file under seal a list of claimants’ names, with an assigned number, and the amount to be paid to each claimant by 2 December 2019. And the parties must also file on the public docket a list of the assigned numbers and the amount to be paid to each by the same date. 5. The Court authorizes the parties to take all the necessary steps to finalize their settlement. The original motion, Ne 93, is denied without prejudice as moot. The superseding unopposed motion, Ne 107, is granted. The Court will dismiss the claims against DirecTV with prejudice, retaining jurisdiction to enforce the parties’ settlement

during the next several months. Joint report on disbursements due by 13 January 2020. So Ordered.

D.P. Marshall Jr. United States District Judge 1 Nevewbur 20/9