| 1. | What is this lawsuit all about? BarBri provides full service bar review courses throughout the United States aimed at assisting would-be attorneys to prepare to take one or more of the bar examinations that are required by each state and the District of Columbia before an attorney obtains a license to practice law. Plaintiffs alleged that BarBri violated federal antitrust laws by agreeing with Kaplan to limit competition in the market for full service bar review courses. West is the owner of BarBri and is a Defendant for that reason. The other Defendant is Kaplan. Plaintiffs alleged that BarBri agreed not to compete in the LSAT business and that Kaplan agreed not to compete in the bar review business, thereby allocating to BarBri the market for full service bar review courses in the United States and preventing a competitive bar review course from being marketed and sold. Plaintiffs also alleged that BarBri unlawfully acquired and maintained a monopoly in the market for full service bar review courses in the United States and also conspired to monopolize that market, all through a variety of means. As a result, Plaintiffs alleged, competition in the relevant market was adversely affected |
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| 2. | Am I a member of the Class? All persons and entities who paid for a BarBri full-service bar-review course from August 1, 2006, through and including March 21, 2011, will be considered members of the class. Excluded from the class are the defendants in this litigation, as well as their respective officers, directors, employees and personnel, as well as all employees and personnel of any law firm that is counsel of record in this litigation to any Defendant. |
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| 3. | Do I need to hire my own attorney? No, the Court has appointed two law firms as Class Counsel. Your interests as a Class Member will be represented by Class Counsel without charge to you. You may contact them at:
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| 4. | When will the proposed Settlement be approved? There will be a final fairness hearing at which the Court will consider Objections, if any, to the proposed Settlement and will determine (i) whether the proposed Settlement should be approved and (ii) whether to award attorney’s fees and/or costs to Class Counsel. The Hearing will take place on June 20, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. in Courtroom 8 of the Unites States District Court, 312 North Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Top |
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| 5. | What are the Benefits of the Settlement? Class Members may potentially receive both a cash payment as well as a Discount Certificate towards a future Kaplan course. Each Discount Certificate contains a unique code than can be redeemed only once. West has agreed to pay the total sum of $5,285,000, which sum shall be used to make distributions to and for the benefit of Class Members who submit properly completed and timely Claim Forms if the Settlement is approved by the Court; to pay attorney’s fees and expenses approved by the Court; the costs of providing notice to the Class; fees and expenses of the Claims Administrator, as approved by the Court; and fees associated with the administration and maintenance of the Settlement Fund, as approved by the Court. In addition to the Settlement Fund established by West, Kaplan has agreed to provide at least one Discount Certificate to each Class Member. Also, for each additional full-service bar-review course other than a full-service bar-review course for a price discounted by fifty percent (50%) or more for which a Class Member has paid during the Class Period, the Class Member will receive an additional Discount Certificate. Each Discount Certificate will be valid for thirty (30) months, will be fully transferable (regardless of whether the transferee is a Class Member and regardless of whether the transfer is in the nature of a gift, a barter transaction, an online auction or sale such as eBay or Craig’s List, or any other legal form of transaction), and will be redeemable toward the future purchase of one qualifying Kaplan course if the Settlement is approved by the Court. If the Court does not approve the Settlement as to Kaplan, your Discount Certificate(s) will not be redeemable by you or anyone else |
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| 6. | How do I get the benefits of the settlement? To receive a cash payment from the Settlement Fund, you must complete and submit a Claim form and mail it, postmarked no later than May 30, 2011. To request a Notice and Claim Form, you may call the Claims Administrator at 1-888-293-3337 and request that a Notice and Claim Form be mailed to you, or you may download the form by clicking on Case Documents above. |
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| 7. | What is the amount of the cash payment that I will receive from the Settlement Fund? After deducting attorney’s fees and costs, and an additional amount to be paid to the Claims Administrator for administering the Settlement (in an amount to be approved by the Court), the Settlement Fund will be paid to eligible Class Members who have timely submitted the Claim Forms. Each such Class Member’s Award will be calculated based on (a) the amount paid by each such Class Member as indicated on the Claim Form and (b) the number and amount of timely claims submitted by all Class Members. Each Class Member’s Distribution Ratio will then be calculated by dividing his or her claim by all timely and valid claims. The Class Member’s Award is the product of his or Distribution Ratio and the Settlement Fund (after deducting attorney’s fees and costs and an additional amount to be paid to the Claims Administrator for administering the Settlement), assuming the Settlement is approved by the Court. |
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| 8. | How much are the Kaplan Discount Certificates worth? Eligible claimants are entitled to: A credit of $200 (Two Hundred Dollars) towards the purchase of a single Qualifying Kaplan Course that would otherwise cost the holder $1,999.00 or more; or A credit of $150 (One Hundred Fifty Dollars) towards the purchase of a Qualifying Kaplan Course that would otherwise cost the holder between $1,499.00 and $1,998.00; or A credit of $100 (One Hundred Dollars) towards the purchase of a Qualifying Kaplan Course that would otherwise cost the holder between $999.00 and $1,498.00; or A credit of $50 (Fifty Dollars) towards the purchase of a Qualifying Kaplan Course that would otherwise cost the holder between $499.00 and $998.00. Each Discount Certificate contains a unique code than can be redeemed only once. |
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| 9. | I don’t want to be a part of this Class Action. How do I get out of the Settlement? if you do not want to remain a member of the class settling with west, which means you do not want to receive the financial benefits of the settlement, you must send a request for exclusion in writing to the Claims Administrator postmarked on or before May 30, 2011 at the following address: Stetson v. West Publishing Corp. Settlement Administrator, c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC, P.O. Box 8090, San Rafael, CA 94912-8090. The request for exclusion must contain your name, address, and telephone number. In addition, it must state that you are requesting to exclude yourself from the Settlement with West Publishing Corp. in Stetson, et al. v. West Publishing Corporation, et al., Case No. CV-08-00810 R, and it must be signed by you personally. By electing to be so excluded, (1) you will not receive the check generated by the Settlement, even if you would otherwise be entitled to it; (2) you will not be bound by any further order or judgments entered for or against the Class as to West; (3) you will have no right to object to the Settlement as to West or be heard at any hearing scheduled for the Court’s consideration of the Settlement as to West; and (4) you may pursue any claims against West that were asserted by Plaintiffs in this case by filing your own lawsuit at your own expense or by seeking to intervene in this lawsuit as an individual plaintiff at your own expense. If you do not want to remain a Member of the Class settling with Kaplan, Inc., which means you do not want to retain your Discount Certificate(s), you must send a request for exclusion in writing to the Claims Administrator postmarked on or before May 30, 2011 at the following address: Stetson v. West Publishing Corp. Settlement Administrator, c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC, P.O. Box 8090, San Rafael, CA 94912-8090. The request for exclusion must contain your name, address, and telephone number. In addition, it must state that you are requesting to exclude yourself from the Settlement with Kaplan, Inc. in Stetson, et al. v. West Publishing Corporation, et al., Case No. CV-08-00810 R, and it must be signed by you personally. By electing to be so excluded, (1) you will not be permitted to use or transfer the Discount Certificate(s) included with this Notice, and instead the Discount Certificate(s) will be voided; (2) you will not be bound by any further order or judgments entered for or against the Class as to Kaplan; (3) you will have no right to object to the Settlement as to Kaplan or be heard at any hearing scheduled for the Court’s consideration of the Settlement as to Kaplan; and (4) you may pursue any claims against Kaplan that were asserted by Plaintiffs in this case by filing your own lawsuit at your own expense or by seeking to intervene in this lawsuit as an individual plaintiff at your own expense. If you do not want to remain a Member of the Class settling with either West Publishing Corp. or Kaplan, Inc., which means you do not want to participate in any benefits from the Settlement, you must send a request for exclusion in writing to the Claims Administrator postmarked on or before May 30, 2011 at the following address: Stetson v. West Publishing Corp. Settlement Administrator, c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC, P.O. Box 8090, San Rafael, CA 94912-8090. The request for exclusion must contain your name, address, and telephone number. In addition, it must state that you are requesting to exclude yourself from the Settlement in Stetson, et al. v. West Publishing Corporation, et al., Case No. CV-08-00810 R, and it must be signed by you personally. By electing to be so excluded, (1) you will not benefit from any aspect of the Settlement and your enclosed Discount Certificate(s) will be voided; (2) you will not be bound by any further order or judgments entered for or against the Class; (3) you will have no right to object to the Settlement or be heard at any hearing scheduled for the Court’s consideration of the Settlement; and (4) you may pursue any claims against Defendants that were asserted by Plaintiffs in this case by filing your own lawsuit at your own expense or by seeking to intervene in this lawsuit as an individual plaintiff at your own expense. |
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| 10. | How do I tell the Court if I don’t like the Settlement? If you do not exclude yourself from the Class, you will remain in the Class and may object to the Settlement. To object to the Settlement, attorney’s fee awards, reimbursement of expenses of Class Counsel, or payment of Incentive Awards to the Representative Plaintiffs, you must file your objection in writing with the Clerk of Court on or before May 30, 2011 at the following address: Stetson v. West Publishing Corp. Settlement Administrator, c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC, P.O. Box 8090, San Rafael, CA 94912-8090. You also must send copies of your objection to Class Counsel and Defendants’ counsel, postmarked no later than May 30, 2011. Any objection must include your name, your address, the name and number of the case, and a statement of the reasons why you object to the Settlement. Class Counsel can be served at the following addresses:
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| 11. | If I do nothing at all, what happens? If you do nothing in response to this Notice (i.e., if you do not submit a Claim Form and do not to exclude yourself from the Settlement), you will not receive a check for your portion of the Settlement Fund. However, you will be permitted to redeem your Discount Certificate(s) or transfer them. In addition, you will be bound by any judgment entered with respect to the BarBri Settlement, and you will release the Released Parties, as explained in Section 5 of this Notice, above. |
Barbri Settlement
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Here is the Frequently Answer and Question about BarBri Settlement and BarBri Class Action Settlement. This Article contains good information for you who want to know more about BarBri Settlement.
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