Sostrin Declaration

Case 3:13-cv-01718-BEN-BLM Document 65-4 Filed 04/02/15 Page 1 of 6
1 Timothy J. Sostrin (IL: 6290807)
Keogh Law, LTD
2 [email protected]
55 W. Monroe Street, Suite 3390
3 Chicago, IL 60603
Tel: (312) 726-1092
4 Fax: (312) 726-1093
5 Patric A. Lester (SBN: 220092)
Lester & Associates
6 [email protected]
5694 Mission Center Road, #358
7 San Diego, CA 92108
Tel: (619) 665-3888
8 Fax: (314) 241-5777
9 Attorneys for Plaintiff DREW HILL
10
and Proposed Settlement Class
11
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
12
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
13
DREW HILL, individually and on
14 behalf of all others similarly situated,
Plaintiff,
15
16
vs.
17 ASSET ACCEPTANCE, LLC,
18
Defendant.
19
Case No. 3:13-cv-01718-BEN-BLM
DECLARATION OF TIMOTHY J.
SOSTRIN IN SUPPORT OF MOTION
FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES AND COSTS
DATE: MAY 18. 2015
TIME: 10:30AM
The Hon. Roger T. Benitez
Courtroom 5A
20
21
I, Timothy J. Sostrin, declare under penalty of perjury, that the following
22 statements are true:
23 1.
I was appointed Class Counsel in this action, along with Patric A. Lester, by
24
the Court’s Order Granting Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement.
25 2.
I submit this declaration in support of Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorney’s Fees
26
and Costs.
27 3.
If called as a witness, I would competently testify to the matters herein from
28
personal knowledge.
1
Declaration of Timothy J. Sostrin in Support of Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs
Case No. 3:13-cv-01718-BEN-BLM
Case 3:13-cv-01718-BEN-BLM Document 65-4 Filed 04/02/15 Page 2 of 6
1
Class Counsel’s Experience
2 4.
I am an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of Illinois, and admitted to
3
practice in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Seventh Circuit Court of
4
Appeals, and United States District Courts in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana,
5
Michigan, Missouri, Texas, and Wisconsin.
6 5.
I was appointed Pro Hac Vice counsel for Plaintiff in this case on November
7
12, 2014.
8 6.
Since 2007, I have practiced exclusively in consumer rights litigation, in both
9
class actions and individual actions.
10 7.
I am a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates and have
11
undergone extensive training in consumer rights litigation, including the Fair
12
Debt Collection Practices Act, at conferences hosted by the National Consumer
13
Law Center since 2008.
14 8.
My firm, Keogh Law, Ltd. focuses on consumer protection class actions
15
throughout the country. Attached hereto as Exhibit 1 is a true and correct copy
16
of the current firm resume, showing some of the firm’s experience in complex
17
and class action litigation.
18 9.
I have successfully litigated dozens of cases under the Fair Debt Collection
19
Practices Act, including the following reported cases: Leeb v. Nationwide
20
Credit Corp., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 167558 (N.D. Ill. 2013) (defended appeal
21
by debt collector in the Seventh Circuit) ; Torres v. National Enterprise
22
Systems, Inc., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143522 (N.D. Ill. 2013); Missey v.
23
Watson Acquisition Group, LLC, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24524 (E.D. Mo.
24
2011); Martin v. Financial Recovery Center, Inc., 2010 U.S. DIst. LEXIS
25
114134 (N.D. Ind. 2010); Sengenberger v. Credit Control Services, 2010 U.S.
26
Dist. LEXIS 43874 (N.D. Ill. 2010).
27 10.
I had primary responsibility for the prosecution of numerous consumer rights
28
class actions in which my firm was appointed as counsel for the class,
2
Declaration of Timothy J. Sostrin in Support of Motion for Attorney’s Fees and Costs
Case No. 3:13-cv-01718-BEN-BLM
Case 3:13-cv-01718-BEN-BLM Document 65-4 Filed 04/02/15 Page 3 of 6
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including: Galvan v. NCO Fin. Sys., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128592 (N.D. Ill.
2
2012) (Illinois Collection Agency Act class); Osada v. Experian Info.
3
Solutions, Inc., 290 F.R.D. 485 (ND. Ill. December 20, 2012) (Fair Credit
4
Reporting Act class); Saf-T-Gard International, Inc. v. Vanguard Energy
5
Services, L.L.C., et al, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 174222 (N.D. Ill. 2013
6
(Telephone Consumer Protection Act class); Saf-T-Gard v. Transworld
7
Systems, Inc., 10-c-7671, (N.D. Ill., final approval granted September 17,
8
2013) (Telephone Consumer Protection Act class).
9 11.
In addition, I have shared responsibility with others in my firm in the
10
prosecution of numerous other consumer rights class actions in which my firm
11
was appointed as counsel for the class, including: Hageman v. AT&T Mobility
12
LLC, et al., Case 1:13-cv-00050-DLC-RWA (D. MT.) (Co-Lead) (Final
13
Approval granted February 11, 2015 for settlement providing $45 million to a
14
class of 16,000 persons); Capital One Telephone Consumer Protection Act
15
Litigation, et al., 12-cv-10064 (N.D. Ill.) (Liaison Counsel and additional Class
16
Counsel) (Final Approval granted February 12, 2015 for $75 million
17
settlement); Lopera v RMS, 12-c-9649 (N.D. Ill., final approval granted
18
December 4, 2014) (TCPA class); Brian J. Wanca, J.D., P.C. v. L.A. Fitness
19
International, LLC, Case No. 11-CV-4131 (Lake County, Il. Final Approval
20
granted December 20, 2013) (TCPA class); Pesce v First Credit Services, 11-
21
cv-01379 (N.D. Ill. 2011) (TCPA Class); Cain v Consumer Portfolio Services,
22
Inc. 10-cv-02697 (N.D. Ill., Final Approval granted June 15, 2012) (TCPA
23
class).
24 12.
My hourly billing rate is $425. I recently submitted my lodestar at the rate of
25
$425 per hour in In re Capital One Telephone Consumer Protection Act
26
Litigation, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17120 (N.D. Ill. 2015), where the court
27
ultimately awarded fees in excess of lodestar, despite a challenge from
28
objectors.
3
Declaration of Timothy J. Sostrin in Support of Motion for Attorney’s Fees and Costs
Case No. 3:13-cv-01718-BEN-BLM
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1 13.
I believe my hourly rate of $425 to be reasonable for this case in light of my
2
extensive experience and specialized knowledge with both complex consumer
3
rights class actions and cases brought under the Fair Debt Collection Practices
4
Act.
5 14.
I have reviewed the hourly rates approved for other consumer attorneys in this
6
District and believe that my hourly rate is similar to those approved for other
7
attorneys in this District with similar skill, experience and reputation.
8 15.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 2 in support of my hourly rate is the Declaration of
9
Abbas Kazerounian, an attorney practicing in this District who I believe to be
10
familiar with the market rate for attorneys of my skill, experience, and training.
11 16.
In the present action, I expended a total of 292.8 hours on work that in my
12
judgment was reasonable and necessary for the successful prosecution of this
13
action.
14 17.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 3 is an itemization of the time I have expended in
15
this matter, along with a description of the work done for each entry. This
16
itemization does not include additional work performed by attorney Keith
17
Keogh at my firm, who expended 113.2 hours of work, at the rate of $500 per
18
hour, for a total of $56,600, according to my firm’s time records.
19 18.
Exhibit 3 also does not take into account the additional time that I will need to
20
expend in this action going forward through the final approval hearing, such as
21
time necessary to draft the motion for final approval.
22 19.
I printed Exhibit 3 from my firm’s computer system for the purposes of this
23
motion. I have read through these billing records and corrected any entries that
24
I felt were entered either incorrectly or that, in my opinion, took longer than
25
was reasonable.
26 20.
I believe that these records accurately reflect the time expended in this case
27
that was both reasonable and necessary for a successful result.
28 21.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 4 is an itemization of out-of-pocket and anticipated
4
Declaration of Timothy J. Sostrin in Support of Motion for Attorney’s Fees and Costs
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costs my firm incurred and will incur in the prosecution of this matter, along
2
with a description of the cost. These out-of-pocket costs were paid without any
3
assurance that they would ever be recovered through a successful resolution of
4
this action.
5 22.
I printed Exhibit 4 from my firm’s computer system for the purposes of this
6
motion. I have read through the itemized costs and believe that they were
7
reasonably and necessarily incurred for the successful prosecution of this
8
action.
9
Case History
10 23.
The parties in this matter engaged in extensive discovery on both class and
11
merits issues.
12
database of customer and litigation information for nearly two thousand credit
13
collection accounts, and reviewed approximately 5,000 pages of documents
14
relating to Asset’s collection lawsuits that gave rise to this action. This was
15
necessary to identify the class members and to investigate the merits of Asset’s
16
defenses.
17 24.
In addition, I engaged in a thorough analysis of choice of law issues relating to
18
the underlying credit card agreements, California common law on Account
19
Stated, Open Book, and Breach of Contract claims, as well as issues regarding
20
class certification and liability under the FDCPA and Rosenthal Act.
21 25.
Through this process, I believe that I am fully apprised of the relative strengths
22
and weaknesses of the parties’ claims and defenses, and the potential risk of
23
pursuing further litigation in this matter.
24
Along with others in my firm, I reviewed and analyzed a
The Settlement
25 26.
Having ample discovery regarding the class, and having researched and briefed
26
Asset’s defenses, the parties agreed to conduct a mediation before the Hon.
27
Arlander Keys (Ret.) to explore a class-wide settlement.
28 27.
Prior to the mediation, I prepared and submitted a detailed mediation brief,
5
Declaration of Timothy J. Sostrin in Support of Motion for Attorney’s Fees and Costs
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setting forth Plaintiff’s views on the case.
2 28.
At all times, settlement negotiations were highly adversarial, non-collusive,
3
and at arm’s length. During the first full-day of mediation on October 13,
4
2014, the parties thoroughly discussed their relative positions on the merits,
5
and made substantial progress towards determining the parameters of a
6
settlement class, and a range of potential relief to the class.
7 29.
After the second full day of mediation on November 12, 2104, and additional
8
telephonic negotiations under the guidance of the Hon. Arlander Keys (Ret.),
9
the parties were able to reach an agreement on the essential settlement terms,
10
which the parties memorialized in a Memorandum of Understanding on
11
November 21, 2014.
12 30.
At no time during these mediations did the parties negotiate regarding any
13
amount for attorneys’ fees.
14 31.
In the subsequent weeks, the parties formalized and finalized their agreement
15
into the Settlement Agreement. Doc. 60-3. The parties did not collude together
16
to advance their own interests to the detriment of the class.
17
The Class Notice
18 32.
I am advised by the settlement administrator Kurtzman Carson Consultants,
19
LLC (“KKC”) that it mailed the approved Notice of the Proposed Settlement to
20
the entire settlement class (822 persons) via first-class mail on March 17, 2015,
21
and created a website where the class members can obtain further information
22
about
23
www.assetclasssettlement.com.
24 33.
According to KCC’s last case status report dated March 30, 2015, no member
25
of the settlement class has yet opted out or objected to the settlement.
the
case
and
submit
a
claim
form
online.
See
26 Executed at Chicago, Illinois, on April 2, 2015.
27
28
/s/ Timothy J. Sostrin
6
Declaration of Timothy J. Sostrin in Support of Motion for Attorney’s Fees and Costs
Case No. 3:13-cv-01718-BEN-BLM