$197.6 Million Settlement Affects Purchasers of Freight Forwarding Services Providing Domestic and International Shipping

News provided by

Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP , Gustafson Gluek, PLLC

20 Jul, 2015, 14:10 BST

SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 2015 /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 China, 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 at www.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 by September 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 visit www.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