Case 2:10-md-02179-CJB-SS Document 508 Filed 10108/10

8/2/2019 Case 2:10-md-02179-CJB-SS Document 508 Filed 10108/10

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IN RE: CHEMICAL RELEA'SE '.'AT BOGALUSANO. 73,341-C, ALL C A S ~ ~ l PliG

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u '17 P!T! II nPARISH OF WASHINGTOND;'. '" i , ! : ~ ,( ST{>.TE OF LOUISIANA

PLC MOTION AND ORDER l


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IN RE: CHEMICAL RELEASEAT BOGALUSANO. 73,341-C, ALL CASES

22ND JUDICIAL DISTlUCT COURT

P AlUSH OF WASHINGTONSTATE OF LOUISIANA

MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF PLC MOTIONFOR APPROVAL OF REIMBURSEMENT

OF "HELD" COMMON BENEFIT EXPENSES

MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT:

On January 24, 2011, the PLC filed a motion and order for the submission of so-called"held" comli10n benefit expenses in this matter, so that these expenses, subject to review andrecommendation by the Special Master, might be reimbursed out of settlement reserves to betransferred to the CADA. That settlement reserve transfer now is proceeding pursuant to a,Consent Order entered by the Court on July 22, 2011.

Although litigation costs and class administration expenses were deducted andreimbursed from the previous plaintifI class settlements with Vicksburg Chemical, Kansas CitySouthern Railway, and Illinois Central Railroad, the amounts of these settlements - particularlyto the extent the available settlement funds were reduced by the aforementioned reserves - were

"nsufficient to address an entire category of litigation costs, namely, the "held" costs of commonbenefit counseL The latter encompass expenses incurred in the areas of travel and lodging,copying and fax charges, courier and delivery services, long distance telephone charges, etc.

Pursuant to the PLC's motion, the Court established a protocol whereby common benefitcounsel would submit to the Special Master for review such "held" costs, but also limiting sameto specified categories and establishing a deadline for the submission. The Court's Order to thisdfect, entered on Jalluary 28, 20 I 1, is made Attachment 1 for reference.

There is long precedent in class action practice for the separate treatment andreimbursement of shared costs incurred by common benefit counsel in prosecuting a case andcollectively paid as incurred, as opposed to the type of commOn benefit costs now at issue, i.e.,costs that are paid and "held" separately by common benefit counsel as incurred. As a recentexample. in the Multi-District Litigation proceeding in the Eastern District ofLouisiana as aresult of the BP oil spill of April 20, 2010. the Honorahle Carl Barbier has entered Pretrial Order

No.9, which, at pages 4-5, defines andestablishes a protocol for record-keeping as to so-called


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"shared costs" and "held costs." The peltinent excerpts from this Pretrial Order No.9 in the BPOil litigation (i.e., pp. I, 3-5) are made Attachment II for reference.

Since the submission of "held" costs under this Comt's protocol by Order of January 28,2011, Special Master Pal Juneau has undeliaken and concluded his review; and it is theunderstanding of the PLC that Mr. Juneau now is in a position to make a recommendation to theCom1 regarding the reimbursement of these costs. The PLC is prepared to abide by the SpecialMaster's recommendation, and by this motion requests that the Court enter an Order approvingreimbursement to the extent recommended and suppOlted by the Special Master.

Accordingly, .the PLC asks that the Court enter the attached Order for the reimbursementof "held" common benefit costs approved by the Special Master, to be deducted from those fundstransferred to the CADA as returned indemnity reserves held out of the plaintiffs' classsettlements with Vicksburg, KCS and ICR.

Respectfully submitted:

ouisiana Avenueo alusa, LA 70427

Telephone: 9851732-1760Facsimile: 19851732-1757PLAINTIFFS' LIAISON COUNSEL

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing pleading has been served on all counsel ofrecord by placing same in the United States Mail, properly addressed and postage prepaid, thelit~ a y of August, 2011 .


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!NRE: CHEMICAL RELEASEATBOGALUSANO.73,341-C, ALL CASES

10:73217$7

2ZND JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT

PARISH OF WASHINGTONSTATE OFLOUISlANA

QRPERConsidering the foregoing motion.IT ORDERED thnt any and all members ofllle PLC submit toPlaintif!i;'

Liaison C()unsel James S, 'Fanruorand PLC member Sondra Cheek no later thanMonday, MarchI, 2011, the totals of"held" common bellefit costs incurred inthe following categories, with the understanding that supporting records anddocuments exist in the possession ofsubmitting counsel to support the totalfigures submitted for each category:

1. Long distance and telephone cbarges;2. Courierand delivery cbarges (Federal Express, etc.);3. Copying (both in-house and by outside vendor) charges;4. Postage charges;5. Faxchmges;6. Tmve! expenses {to include hotel accommodations. airfare and

meals}; and7. Mileage expenses associated with road travel.TIllSDONEllle $ dayof J.(hllU?1fr2011. !?)/t:?"eW: ,

Louisiana.

~ ~ - ~ SCANNED


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Case 2:10-md-02179-CJB-SS Document 508 Filed 10108/10 Page 1 of 14

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTEASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

IN RE: OIL SPILL by the OIL RIG"DEEPWATER HORIZON" in tbeGULF OF MEXICO, onMDL NO. 2179SECTIONJ.APRIL 211, 2010

.This tlocnment relates to: JUDGE BARBIERALL ACTIONS MAG. JUDGE SHUSHAN

PRETRIAL ORDER NO.9

PlaintiffS' Counsel's Time and Expense SubmissionsReimbursement for costs andlor fees for services ofall plaintiff s' counsel performingfunctions in accordance with this order will be set at a time and in a manner established by th.eCourt after due notice to aU counsel and after a hearing. The following standards andprocedures are to be utilized by any counsel seeking fees andlor expense reimbursement.J. General Standards

(l) All time and expenses submitted must be incurred only for workauthorized in advance by the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee ("PSC"),through the Plaintiffs' Liaison Counselor Executive Committee. Priorto the fOrmalio!). of the PSC, such work may only be authorized byPlaintiffu' Liaison Counsel or the Court.(2) These Time and Expense Guidelines are intended for all activitiesperformed and expenses incurred by co.unsel that relate to matterscommon to all claimants in MDL 2179. Further, any claimants'counsel that may at a later date, seek reimbursement or compensation

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Case 2:10-md-02'179-CJB-SS Document 508 Filed 10/08/10 Page 3 of 14

considered or should be submitted, unless the case is determined bythe Plaintiffs Steertng Committee or the Court to be a "commonbenefit case" (e.g. ~ ' l e s t case" or "bellwether" case), and in suchcircumstances shall be reported in a separate time submission.

(2) All time must be accurately and contemporaneously maintained. Timeshall be kept according to dlese guidelines and specifically inaccordance with the Litigation Task Detlnitions as outlined in Exhibit"A". All counsel shall keep a daily record of their time spent inconnection with this litigation, indicating with specificity the hours,location and particular activity (such as "conduct of deposition ofA.B."). The failure to maintain such records, .as wen as insufficienC""description of tbe activity may result in a forfeiture of fees.

(3) All time for each finn shall be maintained in quarter-of-an-bourincrements, Time for "c0111mon benefit cases" (e.g. "bellwether" or"test" cases) shall be submitted separately. Failure to do so may resultin time being disallowed.

(4) All time records shall be submitted to the PG website, eitherelectronically or manually. If submitted manually, it will be submittedtogether with a summarization of the total ofmember finn time brokendown by eacb separate name of time keepe;- and Litigation TaskDefinition the time spent during the preceding month and tbeaccumulated total of all time incurred by tbe finn during the paI1icuiarreponing period, The summary rep0l1 is located 011 tlie PG website. Ifsubmitted electronically (yia a "csv file"), the file must dctail thetimekeeper, the Litigation Task Definition, and the time spent.

(5) The summary report form shalt be certified by a senior partner eachmonth attesting to the aecuracy and correctness of the monthlysubmission.

lII. Expense RepOiting(1) Advanced costs will be deemed as either "Shared" or "Held,"

a. Shared Costs are costs that will be paid out of a separatePlaintiffs' Steering Committee MDL 2179 Fund account to beestablisi;cd and administered by Plaintiffs' Liaison Counsel. inaccordance with Paragraph I (4), to be funded by all membersof the PSC and others as determined by the PSc.

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Case 2: 1O-md-02179-CJ8-SS Document 508 Filed 10/08/10 Page 4 of 14

b. Held Costs are those that will be carried by each attorney inMDL 2179 and reimbursed as and when detennined by thePsc.

(2) Each member of the PSC and any others as set forth in section (l ) above willcontribute to the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee MDL 2179 Fund at times andin amounts sufficient tQ cover the administration of the MDL. The timing andamount of each assessment will be determined by thePSc.

, IV. Shared Costs(1) Shared Costs are costs incurred for the common benefit of the MDL as a'''' 'whole. No individual client-related costs can be considered as Shared Costs,unless the case is determined by the Plaintiffs Steering Committee or the Courtto be a "common benefit case" (e.g. "test case" or "bellwether" case), which,in such circumstances, shall be noted in the expense submission. All costs of a

substantial nature that meet these requirements and fall under the followingcategories shall be considered Shared Costs and quality to be submitted andpaid directly from the MDL account. All Shared Costs must be approved byPlaintiffs' Liaison Counsel prior to being incurred and prior to payment.Shared Costs include:a.b.c.d.

e.f.g.h.i.j.k.1.m.n.o.

Court, filing and service costs 'Deposition and court reporter costsDocument DepositoI)': creation, operation, staffing, equipmentand administrationPlaintiffs' Liaison Counsel administrative matters (e.g.,expenses for equipment, technology, courier services, longdistance, . conference calls, telecopier, electronicservice,postage, meeting expenses, travel for administrativematters, photocopy and printing, secretarial/temporary staff,etc.)PSC group administration matters such as meetings andconference callsLegal and accountant feesExpert witness and consultant fees and expensesPrinting, copying, coding, shipping, scanning (both in and outofhouse or extraordinary firm cost)Research by outside third party vendors/consultants/attorneysCommo!jwitness expenses including travel-j"Translation costsBank or financial Institution chargesInvestigative servicesClaims Administrator chargesSpecial Master charges.

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Case 2:10-md-02179-CJB-SS Document 508 Filed 10/08/10 Page 5 of 14

(2) Plaintiffs' Liaison Counsel shaH prepare and be responsible fordistributing to the appropJiate plaintiffs' counsel and the PSC reimbursementprocedures and the forms associated therewith. Request for payments shouldinclude sufficient information to allow Plaintiffs' Liaison Counsel and tl1eCPA to account properly for costs and to provide adequate detail to the Court.All requesL, shall be subject to review and approval by Plaintiffs' LiaisonCounsel.

V. Held Costs

(l) Held C o s L ~ are costs incum:d for the global benefit of the MDL. Held costS"'"are those lhal do not fall into the above Shared Costs categories but areincurred for the benefit of all plaintiffs in generaL No specific client-relatedcosts can be considered as Beld Costs, unless dJe case is determined by thePlaintiffs Steering Committee or the Court to be a "common benefit case" ( ~ . g . ' ~ t t : s t casen or ' ~ b e l l w e t h e r " case), which, under such c i r c m n s t a n c c : s ~ shall bereported in a separate expense submission. All costs of 1 substantial nature tbatmeet these requirements and raIl under the following categories shall beconsidered Held Costs and qualify to be submitted for consideration by thePSC and the Court for future reimbursement.LII.IlLIV.V.VI.

Telcfax charges 'Postage, shipping, courier. celtified mailPrinting and photocopying (in-house)Computerized reseatch - Lexis/WestInwTelephone -long distance (actual charges only)Travel - pursuant to Travel Limitations set forth below, includingtravel for altomey to attend depositions, courtor legislative matters.A. Airfare

R Reasonable ground transportationC. HotelD. Reasonable meals and enteltainmentE. Reasonable otheriW'arlcing)F. Car rcntaL cabs, etc.O. Secretarial and clerical overtime

(2) Travel Limitations

Except in extraordinary circul11s,lances approved by Plaintiffs' Liaison Counselor thePSc. all travel reimbursementshf'e subject to the following limitations;(u) Airfare. Only the lowest-price available coach airfare at time of

booking (either at restricted coach rates .or rdtes which allow thereservation to be rebooked without sllrcharge. and other agency fees)for a reasonable itinerary will be reimbursed. Notwithstanding theforegoing, first class airfare shall.be allowed for crosS-COUl1lIy flights

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fN RE: CHEMICAL RELEASEAT BOGALUSANO. 7J.341-C, ALL CASES

Considering the foregoing motion,

22ND JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT

PARISH OF WASHfNGTONSTATE OF LOUISIANA

ORDER. - - - . ~ " .

IT IS ORDERED that the CADA reimburse ii'om the Louisiana plaintiff class share of

reserves transferred to the CADA pursuant to the Consent Order entered herein on July 22, 2011,those "held" common benefit costs submitted by PLC members to the Special Master, andapproved by the Special Master, pursuant to the protocol for the submission and approval ofsame following this COttl1'S Order of January 28, 2011.

THIS DONE the__ day of_______ 2011, Franklinton,Louisiana.

JUDGE

Case 2:10-md-02179-CJB-SS Document 508 Filed 10108/10

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