United States Third Circuit

In class action cases claiming a vast conspiracy between some of the nation's largest insurance brokers and insurance carriers involving bid rigging and steering of customers, district court's orders granting final approval of a $121.8 million settlement and a $28 million settlement, as well as the district court's order approving an award of $29.5 million for attorneys' fees and expenses is affirmed where: 1) each element of the alleged RICO violations and violation under the Sherman Act involved common questions of law and fact which predominated over any individual ones and therefore satisfies the predominance requirement of Rule 23(b)(3); 2) the district court's decision not to certify separate subclasses or require separate representation did not constitute an abuse of discretion and likewise, its approval of the settlement agreement and plan of allocation was also within its discretion; and 3) district court's award of attorneys' fees was reasonable and not an abuse of discretion.

Appellate Information

• Argued 04/21/2009
• Decided 09/08/2009
• Published 09/08/2009

Judges

• Before: SCIRICA, Chief Judge, FISHER and GREENBERG, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Third Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Edward F. Siegel, Cleveland, OH, Attorney for Appellants, Shapiro & Lodwick Co., Sports & Spine Physical Therapy Inc., Irene Pekoe, Hoffman Legal Group, Lacy Redd and Cross & Sir., Edward W. Cochran, Cochran & Cochran, Shaker Heights, OH, Attorney for Appellants, Irene Pekoe and Hoffman Legal Group., N. Albert Bacharach, Gainsville, FL, Attorney for Appellants, Lacy Redd and Cross & Sir., Andrea J. Lawrence, Cohen, Tauber, Spievack & Wagner LLP, New York, NY, Attorney for Appellants, Romero General Construction Corp., Emerald Financial Group, Inc., Palomar Grading and Paving, Inc. and Harold Folsom Jensen., Kenneth E. Nelson, Nelson Law Firm, PC, Kansas City, MO, Stephen Tsai, Bridgewater, NJ, Attorneys for Appellant, Dan C.D. Sturdevant., Howard J. Bashman, Esq., (Argued), Law Offices of Howard J. Bashman, Willow Grove, PA, D. Gibson Gibson, McClure, Wallace & Daniels, LLP, Dallas, TX, Ethan L. Shaw, Moore Landrey LLP, Austin, TX, Alani Golanski, Weitz & Luxenberg, New York, NY, Attorneys for Appellant, Van Enterprises, Inc., John J. Pentz, III (Argued), Class Action Fairness Group, Maynard, MA, Edward F. Siegel, Cleveland, OH, Attorneys for Appellants, Class Members Iaad O, Inc., Trustee of 8 Pacific Street Trust and Zorkess LLC.


• For Appellees:
  
• Bryan L. Clobes (Argued), Ellen Meriwether, Cafferty Faucher LLP, Philadelphia, PA, Edith M. Kallas, Joe R. Whatley, Jr., Whatley, Drake & Kallas LLC, New York, NY, Attorneys for Appellees, Opticare Health System, Sunburst Hospitality, Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, Redwood Oil Co., Bayou Steel Corp., Clear Lam Packaging, Inc., Cellect LLC, City of Stamford, Connecticut Spring & Stamp Co., Eagle Creek, Inc., Comcar Industries, Inc., Gateway Club Apartments, Ltd., Michigan Multi-King Corp., Robert Mulcahy, Glenn Singer, Enclave, LLC, Omni Group of Companies and Class Plaintiffs., Ann M. Ashton, Ralph C. Ferrara, Elizabeth B. Sandza, Dewey & LeBoeuf, LLP, Washington, DC, Jonathan E. Richman, Dewey & LeBoeuf, LLP, New York, NY, Attorneys for Appellees, Zurich American Ins. Co., d/b/a Zurich NA, American Guarantee and Liability Ins. Co., Assurance Company of America, Empire Fire and Marine Ins. Co., Empire Indemnity Ins. Co., Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland, Steadfast Ins. Co. and Zurich Financial Services., James A. Donahue, III (Argued), Jennifer J. Kirk, Office of Attorney General of Pennsylvania Harrisburg, PA, Attorney for Appellees, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Virginia, State of Florida, State of California, State of Hawaii, State of Maryland, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, State of Texas and State of Oregon., Christopher R. Hunt, Office of the Attorney General of Florida Department of Legal Affairs, Tallahassee, FL, Attorney for Appellee, State of Florida., Kathleen Foote, Office of the Attorney General of California, San Francisco, CA, Attorney for Appellee, State of California., Rodney Kimura, Office of the Attorney General of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, Attorney for Appellee, State of Hawaii., Alan M. Barr, Office of Attorney General of Maryland, Baltimore, MA, Attorney for Appellee, State of Maryland., Amy L. Nable, Office of Attorney General of Massachusetts, Boston, MA, Attorney for Appellee, Commonwealth of Massachusetts., Mark Toby, Bret Fulkerson Office of the Attorney General of Texas, Austin, TX, Attorney for Appellee, State of Texas., Jennifer L. Gobble, Office of the Attorney General of Virginia, Richmond, VA, Attorney for Appellee, Commonwealth of Virginia and Attorney General of Virginia., Tim Nord, Caren Rovics, Office of the Attorney General of Oregon, Salem, OR, Attorney for Appellee, State of Oregon., Edwin M. Larkin, III (Argued), Lina M. Viviano, Christopher J. Paolella, Winston & Strawn, New York, NY, Terrence M. Grimm, Winston & Strawn, Chicago, IL, James S. Richter, Winston & Strawn, Newark, NJ, Attorneys for Appellees, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services, Inc. and Gallagher Benefit Services, Inc.