Case 2:10-cv-09508-MMM-AJW Document 165 Filed 09/09/13 Page 1 of 36 Page ID #:3256 Michael A. Caddell (State Bar No. 249469) 1 [email protected] 2 Cynthia B. Chapman (State Bar No. 164471) Cory S. Fein (State Bar No. 250758) 3 CADDELL & CHAPMAN 4 1331 Lamar, Suite 1070 Houston TX 77010-3027 5 Telephone: (713) 751-0400 6 Facsimile: (713) 751-0906 7 Payam Shahian (SBN 228406) 8 [email protected] STRATEGIC LEGAL PRACTICES, APC 9 1875 Century Park East, Suite 700 10 Los Angeles CA 90067 Telephone: (310) 277-1040 11 Facsimile: (310) 943-3838 12 [Additional attorneys listed below signature line] 13 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 15 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA—WESTERN DIVISION 16 DAVID J. KEEGAN, LUIS Case No. 2:10-cv-09508-MMM-AJW 17 GARCIA, ERIC ELLIS, CHARLES 18 WRIGHT, BETTY KOLSTAD, NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION CAROL HINKLE, AND FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS 19 JONATHAN ZDEB, individually, ACTION SETTLEMENT AND FOR 20 and on behalf of a class of similarly ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND SERVICE situated individuals, AWARDS; MEMORANDUM OF 21 Plaintiffs, POINTS AND AUTHORITIES 22 v. Date: October 28, 2013 23 Time: 10:00 a.m. 24 AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR Place: Courtroom 780 CO., INC., 25 26 Defendant. 27 28 MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT Case 2:10-cv-09508-MMM-AJW Document 165 Filed 09/09/13 Page 2 of 36 Page ID #:3257 1 PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that on October 28, 2013 at 10:00 a.m., or as 2 soon thereafter as the matter may be heard in Courtroom 780 of the above- 3 captioned Court, located at 255 East Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012, the 4 Honorable Margaret M. Morrow presiding, Plaintiffs will, and hereby do, move 5 for an Order granting final approval of the settlement agreed by the parties in this 6 matter, granting reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses in the total amount of 7 $3,165,000, and granting service awards to the Representative Plaintiffs totaling 8 $35,000 in the aggregate. (See Settlement Agreement, attached as Exhibit D to 9 the Declaration of Michael A. Caddell, attached as Exhibit 1, (“Caddell 10 Decl.”).)1 11 Pursuant to the Court’s April 11, 2013 Order preliminarily approving the 12 Settlement and associated notice plan, notice of this Motion was provided to 13 members of the provisionally certified Class on Friday August 9, 2013 by direct 14 U.S. Mail. Plaintiffs now request that the Court enter an Order approving the 15 Settlement and granting relief as follows: 16 1. Certifying, for settlement purposes only, a Class consisting of all 17 persons and entities who purchased or leased 2006 and 2007 Honda Civics, 2006 18 and 2007 Honda Civic Hybrids, and 2008 Honda Civic Hybrids with a VIN 19 range of JMFA3 85000001-JHMFA3 85010456 distributed for sale or lease in 20 the United States (including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), 21 with a subclass consisting of members of the settlement class who owned a 22 vehicle designated as a “Civic Si.” 23 2. Granting final approval of the Settlement Agreement as fair, 24 reasonable, and adequate and directing its implementation according to its terms 25 and provisions. 26 1 Capitalized terms herein have the meanings defined in the Settlement 27 Agreement. 28 Page 1 MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT Case 2:10-cv-09508-MMM-AJW Document 165 Filed 09/09/13 Page 3 of 36 Page ID #:3258 1 3. Granting attorneys’ fees in the amount of $2,865,413.47. 2 4. Granting expenses in the amount of $299,586.53. 3 5. Granting service awards to the Representative Plaintiffs totalling 4 $35,000 in the aggregate. 5 6. Discharging and releasing Defendant and Released Persons on the 6 terms and conditions set forth in the Settlement Agreement. 7 7. Granting such other relief as the Court deems just and proper. 8 8. This Motion is based upon: (a) this Notice of Motion and Motion; 9 (b) the Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Motion for Final 10 Approval of Class Action Settlement and for Attorneys’ Fees and Service 11 Awards; (c) the Declaration of Michael A. Caddell with its exhibits; (d) the 12 Declaration of Matthew R. Mendelsohn with its exhibits; (e) the Declaration of 13 Payam Shahian with its exhibits; (f) the Declaration of Robert L. Starr with its 14 exhibits; (g) the Declaration of Gregory A. Romer; (h) the Declaration of 15 Michael C. Andolina with its exhibits; (i) the [Proposed] Order Granting Final 16 Approval of Class Action Settlement and Attorneys’ Fees, Expenses, and Service 17 Awards; (j) the records, pleadings, and papers filed in this action; and (k) such 18 other documentary and oral evidence or argument as may be presented to the 19 Court at the hearing of this Motion. 20 Defendant American Honda Motor Co., Inc. does not oppose this Motion. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Page 2 MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT Case 2:10-cv-09508-MMM-AJW Document 165 Filed 09/09/13 Page 4 of 36 Page ID #:3259 Dated: September 9, 2013 Respectfully submitted, 1 By: /s/ Michael A. Caddell 2 Michael A. Caddell (SBN 249469) 3 [email protected] Cynthia B. Chapman (SBN. 164471) 4 [email protected] Cory S. Fein (SBN 250758) 5 [email protected] 6 CADDELL & CHAPMAN 1331 Lamar, Suite 1070 7 Houston TX 77010-3027 Telephone: (713) 751-0400 8 Facsimile: (713) 751-0906 9 Payam Shahian (SBN 228406) 10 [email protected] STRATEGIC LEGAL PRACTICES, APC 11 1875 Century Park East, Suite 700 Los Angeles, California 90067 12 Telephone: (310) 277-1040 13 Facsimile: (310) 943-3838 14 Matthew R. Mendelsohn (pro hac vice) [email protected] 15 MAZIE SLATER KATZ & FREEMAN, LLC 103 Eisenhower Parkway 16 Roseland NJ 07068 17 Telephone: (973) 228-9898 Facsimile: (973) 228-0303 18 Robert L. Starr (SBN 183052) 19 [email protected] 20 THE LAW OFFICE OF ROBERT L. STARR 23277 Ventura Boulevard 21 Woodland Hills, California 91364-1002 Telephone: (818) 225-9040 22 Facsimile: (818) 225-9042 23 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 24 25 26 27 28 Page 3 MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT Case 2:10-cv-09508-MMM-AJW Document 165 Filed 09/09/13 Page 5 of 36 Page ID #:3260 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 2 MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES .......................................... 1 3 4 I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1 5 II. SUMMARY OF THE LITIGATION AND PROPOSED 6 SETTLEMENT .............................................................................................. 2 7 A. Plaintiffs’ Pre-Suit Investigation .......................................................... 2 8 B. The Litigation ....................................................................................... 3 9 10 C. Terms of the Proposed Settlement ....................................................... 6 11 1. Control Arm Replacement ......................................................... 6 12 2. Reimbursement for Control Arm Replacement ......................... 7 13 14 3. Reimbursement for Premature Tire Wear ................................. 7 15 4. The Claims Process .................................................................... 8 16 5. Release ....................................................................................... 9 17 18 6. Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses ................................................... 9 19 7. Service Awards .......................................................................... 9 20 III. ARGUMENT AND AUTHORITIES ............................................................ 9 21 22 A. The Court Should Approve the Settlement as Fair, Reasonable, and Adequate. ....................................................................................... 9 23 24 1. The Value of the Settlement and the Substantial Benefits It Provides to the Class Support Final Approval. .................... 11 25 26 2. The Risks Inherent in Continued Litigation and Trial Support Final Approval. .......................................................... 12 27 28 Page i MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT Case 2:10-cv-09508-MMM-AJW Document 165 Filed 09/09/13 Page 6 of 36 Page ID #:3261 3. The Settlement Eliminates Any Risk of Maintaining 1 Class Action Status Throughout the Trial. .............................. 13 2 4. The Extent of Discovery and the Stage of the Proceedings 3 Favor Settlement Approval. ..................................................... 13 4 5. The Recommendations of Experienced Counsel Favor 5 Approval of the Settlement. ..................................................... 14 6 6. No Attorneys General Object to the Settlement. ..................... 15 7 8 7. Class Members’ Positive Reaction Supports Final Approval. ................................................................................. 15 9 10 B. The Court-Ordered Notice Program Meets Due Process Standards and Has Been Fully Implemented. .................................... 17 11 12 C. Class Certification is Appropriate for Settlement Purposes. ............. 18 13 D. The Court Should Award the Requested Attorneys’ Fees. ................ 18 14 1. The Requested Fee Is Reasonable According to Lodestar 15 Principles. ................................................................................ 18 16 a. Class Counsel’s hourly rates are reasonable. ................ 19 17 18 b. The submitted hours are reasonable. ............................. 20 19 c. The requested fee is reasonable in light of 20 the risk counsel faced in undertaking this litigation and the results achieved. ................................................ 22 21 22 2. The Result Achieved by Class Counsel. .................................. 23 23 E. The Court Should Award the Requested Expenses. .......................... 24 24 F. The Court Should Award the Requested Service Awards to the 25 Representative Plaintiffs. ................................................................... 24 26 IV. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 25 27 28 Page ii MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT Case 2:10-cv-09508-MMM-AJW Document 165 Filed 09/09/13 Page 7 of 36 Page ID #:3262 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES 1 2 CASES 3 Amchem Prods. v. Windsor, 4 521 U.S. 591 (1997) ................................................................................. 18 5 Browning v. Yahoo!, Inc., 6 No. 04-cv-1463, 2007 WL 4105971 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 16, 2007) ................................................................. passim 7 8 Chu v. Wells Fargo Investments, LLC, No. 06-cv-7924, 2011 WL 672645 9 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 16, 2011) ......................................................................... 22 10 Class Plaintiffs v. City of Seattle, 11 955 F.2d 1268 (9th Cir. 1992) .............................................................10–11 12 Daniel v. Ford Motor Co., 13 No. 11-cv-2890, 2013 WL 3146810 14 (E.D. Cal. June 18, 2013) .............................................................. 11, 21, 22 15 Daugherty v. American Honda Motor Co., 16 144 Cal. App. 4th 824 (Cal. Ct. App. 2006) ............................................. 12 17 Glass v. UBS Fin. Servs., Inc., 18 No. 06-cv-4068, 2007 WL 221862 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 26, 2007) .......................................................................... 16 19 20 Grays Harbor Adventist Christian School v. Carrier Corp., No. 05-cv-05437, 2008 WL 1901988 21 (W.D. Wash. April 24, 2008) ................................................................... 19 22 Hanlon v. Chrysler Corp., 23 150 F.3d 1011 (9th Cir. 1998) ........................................................... passim 24 Hartless v. Clorox, 25 273 F.R.D. 630 (S.D. Cal. 2011) ....................................................... passim 26 27 28 Page iii MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT Case 2:10-cv-09508-MMM-AJW Document 165 Filed 09/09/13 Page 8 of 36 Page ID #:3263 Hopson v. Hanesbrands Inc., 1 No. 08-cv-0844, 2009 WL 928133 2 (N.D. Cal. April 3, 2010)................................................................... passim 3 In re Mego Fin. Corp. Secs. Litig., 4 213 F.3d 454 (9th Cir. 2000) .................................................................... 25 5 In re Netflix Privacy Litig., 6 No. 11-cv-00379, 2013 WL 1120801 (N.D. Cal. March 18, 2013) ...................................................................... 16 7 8 In re Prudential Ins. Co. Am. Sales Practices Litig., 148 F.3d 283 (3d Cir. 1998) ................................................................. 2, 22 9 10 In re Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Wage and Hour Litig., No. 06-2069, 2011 WL 31266 11 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 5, 2011) ........................................................................ 2, 22 12 In re Washington Public Power Supply Sys. Secs. Litig., 13 19 F.3d 1291 (9th Cir. 1994) .............................................................. 18, 22 14 Knight v. Red Door Salons, Inc., 15 No. 08-cv-01520, 2009 WL 248367 16 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 2, 2009) ........................................................................... 25 17 Mullane v. C. Hanover Bank & Trust, 18 339 U.S. 306 (1950) ................................................................................. 17 19 Nat’l Rural Telecomms. Coop. v. DIRECTV, Inc., 20 221 F.R.D. 523 (C.D. Cal. 2004) .............................................................. 10 21 Officers for Justice v. Civil Serv. Comm'n of City & Cnty. of San Francisco, 22 688 F.2d 615 (9th Cir. 1982) ........................................................................ 10 23 Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts, 24 472 U.S. 797 (1985) ................................................................................. 17 25 Powers v. Eichen, 26 229 F.3d 1249 (9th Cir. 2000) .................................................................. 23 27 28 Page iv MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT Case 2:10-cv-09508-MMM-AJW Document 165 Filed 09/09/13 Page 9 of 36 Page ID #:3264 Samuel-Bassett v. Kia Motors America, Inc., 1 34 A.3d 1 (Penn. 2011) ............................................................................ 11 2 Satchell v. Fed. Exp. Corp., 3 No. 03-cv-2659, 2007 WL 1114010 4 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 13, 2007) ......................................................................... 14 5 Staton v. Boeing, 6 327 F.3d 938 (9th Cir. 2003) ......................................................... 10, 19, 24 7 Vizcaino v. Microsoft Corp., 8 290 F.3d 1043 (9th Cir. 2002) .............................................................. 2, 22 9 Williams v. MGM-Pathe Comms. Co., 10 129 F.3d 1026 (9th Cir. 1997) .................................................................. 23 11 Young v. Polo Retail, LLC, 12 No. 02-cv-4546, 2007 WL 951821 (N.D. Cal. March 28, 2007) ...................................................................... 19 13 14 STATUTES 15 Class Action Fairness Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1715 ..................................................... 15 16 TREATISE 17 18 NEWBERG ON CLASS ACTIONS (4th ed.) .............................................................. 11 19 MANUAL FOR COMPLEX LITIGATION (4th ed. 2004) ......................................... 17–18 20 RULES 21 22 FED. R. CIV. P. 23(e) ........................................................................................... 17 23 24 25 26 27 28 Page v MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT Case 2:10-cv-09508-MMM-AJW Document 165 Filed 09/09/13 Page 10 of 36 Page ID #:3265 1 MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES 2 I. INTRODUCTION 3 Plaintiffs brought this action on behalf of themselves and a putative 4 nationwide class of current and former owners and lessees of 2006 and 2007 5 Honda Civics, 2006 and 2007 Honda Civic Hybrids, and certain 2008 Honda 6 Civic Hybrids2 distributed for sale or lease in the United States (including Puerto 7 Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) (collectively, the “Settlement Class 8 Vehicles”). Plaintiffs allege that the Settlement Class Vehicles suffer from a 9 suspension defect that causes uneven and premature tire wear. Defendant 10 American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (“Honda”) has disputed this claim and maintains 11 that the Settlement Class Vehicles functioned properly, that they were not 12 defective, and that no warranties or statutes were breached. 13 Plaintiffs have reached a settlement with Honda. The Settlement 14 Agreement3 provides for replacement of allegedly defective control arms in the 15 Settlement Class Vehicles, as well as reimbursement for tires replaced due to 16 premature tire wear, as described in more detail below. (See infra Section II.C.) 17 The settlement thus provides Class Members with remedies similar to what they 18 could expect to receive if the case were successfully tried, but without the delay 19 and risks associated with trial, and it should therefore be approved. 20 The Settlement Agreement also provides that Honda will not oppose Class 21 Counsel’s application for reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses in a total 22 amount not to exceed $3,165,000 and service awards for the Representative 23 Plaintiffs totaling $35,000 in the aggregate. (Settlement Agreement, Ex. D to 24 2 Only certain 2008 Civic Hybrids are included because those with VIN numbers higher than the range included in the Settlement Class were manufactured with 25 the longer control arm and thus do not suffer from the alleged suspension defect. 26 3 The Settlement Agreement is attached as Exhibit D to the Declaration of Michael A. Caddell, attached as Exhibit 1 (“Caddell Decl.”). Capitalized terms 27 herein have the meanings defined in the Settlement Agreement. 28 Page 1 MOTION FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT