Beach v. JPMorgan Chase Bank

Background

The parties told the court that an administrative error delayed notice of the proposed settlement to the attorneys general of certain states. The Class Action Fairness Act, or CAFA, requires defendants in a class action to notify appropriate state and federal officials about a proposed settlement and generally bars final approval until 90 days after that notice is served.

The settlement agreement required the notices to be provided by June 1, 2020. The settlement administrator informed the defendants on June 2 that notices had been sent to all required officials. On July 9, however, the administrator discovered that notices had not been sent to the fifteen state attorneys general offices that had selected email service. The administrator promptly served those offices on July 9.

Request and Ruling

The parties jointly requested that the court hold the fairness hearing on September 22, 2020, as previously scheduled, while delaying its decision on final settlement approval until at least October 7, 2020, so the 90-day notice period could run for all states.

Judge Jesse M. Furman granted the application. The fairness hearing remained scheduled for September 22, 2020, at 3:30 p.m. The court reserved judgment on whether to grant final approval of the settlement and stated that any approval would be deferred until October 7, 2020. The clerk was directed to terminate ECF No. 216.