Page 6 - SIB_ClassActionWhitepaper_rev2018-05-31_Neat

those with the capacity to produce more detailed
meaning that class membership entails procuring
documentation that could involve hundreds of
different kinds of records, including receipts,
invoices, contracts, End User License Agreements,
and prescriptions or medical records, to name just
a few. Each claim requires detailed documentation
from a different segment of the life of a person
or company, which, without significant time
and resources, can be extraordinarily difficult to
successfully retrieve and submit on time. If the
explosion in class action suits has largely expanded
the rights of businesses and other groups, it has
also made the process of pursuing settlement
claims an infinitely more complex task.
The structure of settlement distribution also
varies widely, as seen in the above cases; some of
the more complex cases must “triage” settlements,
or redefine the class involved based on their level
of exposure or damage from the illegal action in
question in order to make out payments structured
by attributes that are usually far more complicated
than simple proration. Different settlements and
trusts, depending on their claim administrators and
the legal counsel involved in disputes, may have free
reign to design the implementation of settlements,
assented to by a judge. These differences can
make it either very easy or very difficult for claimants
to pursue them. They can even require claimants
to self-select, offering a smaller, fixed settlement
portion for a relatively insignificant amount of work
and simultaneously other, more complex options for
records or information.
Inevitably, the option requiring the least
amount of work is chosen by a majority of claimants
in such cases, because the task of filing can be
daunting. Moreover, settlement distributions are
organic processes rather than stable, repetitive,
replicable feats. Each case is different, and
complex cases may transpire such that notification
is initiated and revised once or multiple times. In
the process, the requirements of identifying as
a member of a class or subclass, and thus the
documentation that a claimant must produce,
may change substantially. The overall course of
pursuing funds from a class action settlement can
be a matter of months, but more frequently it is
years, and sometimes the better part of a decade.
Best Practices
If you are organized and your mentality is
one of constant pursuit rather than occasional
receipt, the current landscape of proliferating class
action is such that you can not only properly pursue
those funds of which, as a clear class member,
you might be provided adequate notification; you
may also aggressively pursue funds about whose
establishment you might only have limited notice or
awareness.
The key is to work as both an archivist
and an activist on behalf of your business. You
should maintain a clear and expansive sense of
your operations, expenses, and records. Codify
your investments and expenditures by type; keep
a searchable database of detailed transaction
records with specific headings under alphabetized
categories. Encrypt and archive information rather
than dispensing with it when it no longer seems
useful. This transition may prove difficult at first, but
if you operate under the general guideline that all
of your transactions might one day be mobilized
to prove your membership in a class claiming
damages, the means of doing so will clarify.
Similarly, you must devote time to remaining
© 2018 SIB Fixed Cost Reduction • PAGE 6