This is the third part of an article, which continues from the second part of the same article which was published on Insurance Claims and Issues blog on Wednesday, June 17, 2015.
The third of the three noteworthy rulings of Judge Jonathan Goodman that we are looking at in the Lee case, came “off the books,” so to speak. The ruling is reflected only in a paperless order entered on the electronic docket. It deserves to be published.
And so, it is published here, in its entirety. For those who are not fortunate enough to have easy access to the electronic docket of the Federal Courts, PACER or Public Access to Court Electronic Records, here is a copy which you can download, view and print from your own computer archives: Download Lee v Ocwen Loan Servicing.Supplemental Paperless Order. Dkt 160. 06.12.15 (S.D. Fla. Case No. 0.14.cv.60649).
For the rest of us, here is the paperless ruling, in its entirety. To say again, it deserves to be published and so here it is:
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06/12/2015 |
160 |
ENDORSED ORDER re Supplement to Post Fairness Hearing Order 159 . Plaintiffs shall order the full transcript of yesterday's fairness hearing and arrange for the court reporter transcribing the hearing to upload it on CM/ECF by June 29, 2015 (so that the attorneys preparing the proposed orders on the motion to approve the settlement agreement will be able to use the transcript and, if they deem it necessary or helpful, to use pinpoint page references from the transcript). In addition, Plaintiffs, Defendants and the Objectors (i.e., the Valdezes) who will be filing proposed orders shall also file a list of all cases (both appellate and trial level) from April 1, 2012 to the present, in which courts have approved settlements in lender-placed insurance cases, rejected settlements in lender-placed insurance cases, and/or ruled on motions to dismiss or for summary judgment, in whole or in part, in lender-placed insurance cases. The lists shall include both class action lawsuits and individual lawsuits and shall include cases which have been officially published (e.g., in Fed. 3d., Fed. Supp. 3d or F.R.D.), unofficially published (e.g., only in Westlaw or Lexis) or not published at all (i.e., listed only on a court's CM/ECF docket sheet). The list shall include all cases that counsel are aware of, either because they participated in the case or because they are familiar with developments in lender-placed insurance cases. This order does not require any party or their counsel to conduct independent legal research to track down all cases which have been entered since April 1, 2012. But based on the citation-filled memoranda filed to date, the Undersigned is aware that counsel are well-versed with recent developments in lender-placed insurance litigation and are relatively up to speed on most, if not all, significant court decisions. Next to each case name and number, the party submitting the list shall provide a brief, one-sentence summary of what happened in the ruling (e.g., [a] district court approved settlement, [b] district court rejected settlement, [c] a district court dismissed without prejudice the RICO counts, dismissed with prejudice the breach of contract count, and upheld the breach of fiduciary duty and statutory unfair practices counts, and/or [d] a district court denied a dismissal motion but noted that a claim was problematic and suggested it might not survive summary judgment). In order to avoid the parties submitting lists citing the same cases, the deadlines will be staggered; Plaintiffs shall file their list by June 29, 2015, Ocwen shall file its list by July 2, 2015, the Assurant group of Defendants shall file their list by July 6, 2015 and the Valdezes shall file their list by July 9, 2015. Parties need not cite cases already listed on a previously-filed list, but they may cite a case again if they have a different interpretation of the result, disagree with the summary or want to amplify or clarify the summary. Signed by Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman on 6/12/2015. (JG) (Entered: 06/12/2015) |
A few things to emphasize in this unusual ruling. At the beginning, the context is crucial. Judge Goodman already gave preliminary approval to the class settlement in Lee. The Court’s final approval was supposed to be a done deal, a slam dunk. Until it wasn’t.
First, note in this paperless ruling that the Court is ordering the parties to order the transcript of the Fairness Hearing so that everyone involved in the case – Court, litigants, counsel, everyone – can see and reference the arguments and rulings. Yes, the transcript will be of great help to the lawyers preparing the proposed orders which this Judge required in a previous ruling. In the process, however, everyone involved in the Lee case – and anyone in the vast world outside of the Lee case, as well – can see for themselves the arguments and the rulings that were made in the context in which they were made.
Second, the Court is ordering everyone – plaintiffs, defendants, and persons registering objections to final approval of the class settlement – to provide a list of known lender force-placed insurance cases and the specific dispositions of those cases according to a matrix, if you will, that matches the boundaries within which this Court will decide those issues in this particular case, too.
Third, the deadlines for the lists to be provided are staggered, meaning that each person providing a list may have a different deadline to meet than other persons who are also required to provide a list of cases. The last deadline is July 9, 2015.
It does not take a genius, as they say, to guess that a ruling on the final approval request can be expected in Lee after July 9, 2015.
So stay tuned. Watch this space. The Lee ruling on the final approval of class settlement issues will be posted here as soon as the ruling is released on the public docket.
Please Read The Disclaimer. ©2015 by Dennis J. Wall, author of “Lender Force-Placed Insurance Practices” (American Bar Association 2015). All Rights Reserved. No Claim to Original U.S. Government Works.