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This settlement is closed!
Please see what other class action settlements you might qualify to claim cash from in our Open Settlements directory!
Settlements have been reached in a class action lawsuit alleging freight forwarding companies around the world illegally conspired to fix the prices for their services. If you purchased freight forwarding services, you could be eligible for benefits from a class action settlement.
Under the terms of the class action settlement, the term “freight forwarding services” is defined as freight forwarding, transportation, or logistics services for shipments, and includes services relating to the organization or transportation of items via air and ocean, which may include ancillary rail and truck services, both nationally and internationally, as well as related activities such as customs clearance, warehousing, and ground services.
According to the freight forwarding class action lawsuit, the defendants agreed to fix various charges and surcharges associated with providing freight forwarding services. The routes affected allegedly include those between the United States and China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.
The settling defendants deny they did anything wrong, but have agreed to settle the class action lawsuit to avoid the cost and risk of trial. The court has already approved 10 settlements, under which the settling defendants agreed to pay a minimum of $105 million. A second round of settlements, totaling more than $197 million, has been presented to the court for approval. The money from both rounds of settlements will be put into a settlement fund that will be distributed to Class Members.
Who’s Eligible
You are a Class Member of one or more freight forwarding settlements if you directly purchased freight forwarding services from any of the defendants, their subsidiaries or affiliates in the United States (or outside the United States but for shipments within, to, or from the United States) between Jan. 1, 2001 and Sept. 14, 2012.
A list of the defendants is available at www.FreightForwardCase.com.
Potential Award
Varies. The money in the settlement fund will be distributed to Class Members on a pro rata basis as set forth in the Plan of Allocation. The Plan of Allocation can be found in the Important Documents section of the settlement website.
Proof of Purchase
N/A. Although the Claim Form does not specify the type of documentation required for filing a claim, Class Members should keep all documents they believe may help the Claims Administrator determine the amount owed.
If Class Members cannot submit detailed information, they can submit an explanation of why they are unable to submit documentation and provide an estimated amount, under penalty of perjury.
Claim Form Deadline
1st Round: 8/24/2015
2nd Round: 3/31/2016
If you have already submitted a claim (postmarked no later than Aug. 24, 2015) for the First Round Settlements, you do not need to file a claim for the Second Round Settlements. However, if you did not file a claim for the First Round Settlements, you may file a claim for the Second Round Settlements, postmarked no later than March 31, 2016.
3rd Round: 4/3/2017
Claimants who filed qualifying claims as part of the First or Second round settlements will not need to file another claim to obtain distribution as part of the Third Round settlements.
Case Name
Precision Associates Inc. v. Panalpina World Transport, Case No. 08-cv-00042, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Final Hearing
11/2/2015
UPDATE: A federal judge gave final approval to the freight forwarding price-fixing class action settlements on Nov. 10, 2015.
UPDATE 2: On November 9, 2016, the court granted final approval to the Third Round of the Freight Forwarding settlement. The claim deadline is April 3, 2017. Let Top Class Actions know when you receive a check in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.
UPDATE 3: On July 28, 2017, class counsel submitted a motion to distribute Round 1 and Round 2 settlement funds. Top Class Actions will let our viewers know when the motion is approved by the court.
UPDATE 4: On August 17, 2017, class counsel submitted a notice of withdrawal of the motion to distribute settlement funds. The notice states that some claims may have contained inaccurate information and were being re-reviewed. The court approved the notice on August 21, 2017. Top Class Actions will let our viewers know when the revised motion to distribute is filed with the court.
UPDATE 5: On February 13, 2018 a status report was filed with the court stating that final determination letters will be mailed by the end of March 2018. Top Class Actions will let our viewers know as soon as a check distribution ETA is available!
UPDATE 6: On April 5, 2019, the motion to distribute funds was granted by the court. It is not known how quickly checks will be mailed. Let Top Class Actions know when you receive a check in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.
UPDATE 7: On May 1, 2019, an appeal to the Order on Motion for Disbursement of Funds was filed. Claims will not be fully paid until all appeals are resolved. The settlement website states that partial payments will go out at the end of May 2019. We appreciate your ongoing patience. Top Class Actions will continue to provide updates as we learn more.
UPDATE 8: On May 28, 2019, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks in the mail worth as much as $7,495.70 from the freight forwarding class action settlement. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!
Settlement Website
Claims Administrator
Freight Forwarders Settlement
c/o Freight Forwarders Claims Administrator
P.O. Box 3747
Portland, OR 97208-3747
(877) 276-7340
questions@freightforwardcase.com
Class Counsel
LOVELL STEWART HALEBIAN JACOBSON LLP
LOCKRIDGE GRINDAL NAUEN PLLP
COTCHETT PITRE & MCCARTHY LLP
GUSTAFSON GLUECK PLLC
Defense Counsel
FULBRIGHT & JAWORSKI LLP
VINSON & ELKINS LLP
CLEARY GOTTLIEB STEEN & HAMILTON
FRANKFURT KURNIT KLEIN & SELZ PC
CARROLL MCNULTY & KULL LLC
HAUSFELD LLP
QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN LLP
SKADDEN ARPS SLATE MEAGHER & FLOM LLP
SPECTOR RUBIN PA
KAPLAN MASSAMILLO & ANDREWS LLC
GIBSON DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP
LEVUN GOODMAN & COHEN LLP
HILL RIVKINS & HAYDEN LLP
BAKER & HOSTETLER LLP
SQUIRE SANDERS & DEMPSEY LLP
MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP
KOBRE & KIM LLP
WHITE & CASE LLP
HOGAN LOVELLS LLP
PROSKAUER ROSE LLP
BAKER & MCKENZIE LLP
BINGHAM MCCUTCHEN LLP
WILMER CUTLER PICKERING HALE & DORR LLP
DAVIS POLK & WARDWELL
SIMPSON THATCHER & BARTLETT LLP
MOUND COTTON WOLLAN & GREENGRASS
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351 thoughts onFreight Forwarding Class Action Settlement
What is going on? no update?
Eve,
Even the 1% is a guess by me because the amount I got approved went up and I have no idea how much I was previously approved for. So I have to go by what I see people post on here since I have no other info.
Bill,
Are you saying your original letter expected payout amount to the amount your new letter states your claimed amount to is 28%? That seems very high, did you mean 2.8%?
2.8% seems high already.
I agree I was hoping for 1%.
1% will be realistic, with all the people who has been rejected because they put in crazy numbers. We might get a little more than 1%.
According to a status report filed with the court on 10/12/18, final determination letters will go out within 45 days of the objection deadline, and a motion to distribute funds within 90 days of 10/29/18.
My claim letter came back with all of my portion being listed as worldwide. Did anyone else have this? I’m not sure what that means. This time they accepted all of my claim, I don’t know how much they accepted before just my proposed settlement amount.
I recvd same type of letter,but don’t know what it mean
Bill,
Can I ask what the percentage of your accepted claim amount of this letter is to your proposed pay out amount from your letter last year was. I have seen people post 1% and .001% posted oh here. My accepted claim amount went up so I’m not sure what my percentage is but since you stated all of your award was also worldwide I am interested to see what that percentage is.
28%
Mrs jones
I hope it will be the end of this year. When checks goes our.
Im just guessing here but if there hasnt been any significant changes. The percentage will be about 1%. My total eligible shipments in this new letter hadnt changed from the last one and it was 1%
Please help me with your math because I am closer to .oo1% with my math. What area are your totals from and example numbers you are using to compute?
ive noticed youre obsessed with trying to get people to post their totals. i wont be doing that, but like i said in the 1st determination letter based on my total eligible shipments, my claim award was 1% NOT .001%. Im not sure if its because my shipments were mostly out of asia and other claims were concentrated from another area but this last determination letter indicated all claimants would be recieving a pro rated amount.
My shipments were all out of Asia. Most of my claims fell into ocean AMS and CAF. Ocean AMS was a number of shipments, not a dollar amount.
Thank you, for your response. I’m a math person, so you are right I Leah’s want data. My claim was worldwide only so I’m not sure about the percentages for every level, but hopefully everything goes up.
if you read the documents on the website, you will see that the amount you get does depend on the routes you shipped on.
I searched but cannot fin it.
My claim is approved and complete. I’m excited. Over 1m of fees I paid for freight forwarding are eligible. Will let everyone know when I get a check and how much.
How much did they tell you your refund would me when they sent out checks earlier in the year?
This is the first letter i have gotten from them. I honestly had forgotten about it, up until this letter. I cant even find my confirmation email.
Just spoke with the Claim Admin….he said realistically…after all objections have been resolved…first quarter of 2019 is the earliest they would expect for checks to go out. Said the formula is “complex” and he just knew it was be a percentage of the eligible amounts in the determination letter. He did confirm my info, and updated my contact information.
I received a letter today from them. I haven’t opened yet, but my wife said saw it when she was home for lunch.
Let’s post the amount of our claim letters and how much our proposed settlement letters were in our previous letters. That way we can gain more insight into our potential settlements when we get our letters.
$100k