$250M State Farm Class Action Settlement Gets Final Approval

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Insurance policyholders represented in a State Farm racketeering class action lawsuit managed to secure final approval of a $250 million settlement, despite objections to the deal.

Lead plaintiffs alleged in the class action lawsuit that State Farm colluded with an Illinois Supreme Court judge to overturn a $1 billion judgment against the company in a consumer fraud class action lawsuit that was initiated in 1997.

After reportedly accepting State Farm bribes to his re-election campaign, the plaintiffs claimed that the judge overturned the verdict.

The parties agreed to settle the State Farm racketeering class action lawsuit in September of this year. Under the terms of the settlement, the insurance company will pay $250 million to end the class action; however, one Class Member filed an objection.

The objector, Lisa Marlow, argued that the class counsel fees are too high at $90 million. Further, she claimed that the State Farm racketeering class action lawsuit allegations are too strong and the potential award, $7 billion according to the objector, too high to settle for a mere $250 million.

The State Farm class action settlement was preliminarily approved by a federal judge on the morning a trial was set to begin.

Under the terms of the State Farm racketeering class action settlement, approximately 5 million Class Members are set to receive a portion of the funds remaining after the attorney and administrative fees, as well as plaintiff awards are paid.

“Under the terms of the proposed Settlement, settlement funds will be distributed automatically, with no need for a claim form, to the approximately 1.43 million class members whose contact information is known to the parties,” notes the order approving the class action settlement.

“The remainder of the class has only to submit a relatively simple claim form with basic questions about class membership. This procedure is claimant-friendly, efficient, cost-effective, proportional and reasonable under the particular circumstances of this case.”

The judge also notes in the order approving the settlement that there has been one lone objector to the terms of the settlement.

“This remarkably low level of opposition is ‘strong circumstantial evidence in favor of the settlement,’ especially considering that nearly one-and-a-half million class members received individual, direct notice,” states the judge citing court precedent.

Law360 reports that the objector plans to appeal the approval of the State Farm racketeering class action settlement.

Class Members have until Jan. 31, 2019 to file a claim in the State Farm racketeering class action settlement. 

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

The plaintiffs are represented Robert A. Clifford and Kristofer S. Riddle of Clifford Law Offices PC, Elizabeth J. Cabraser, Robert J. Nelson and Kevin R. Budner of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, Brent W. Landau and Jeannine M. Kenney of Hausfeld LLP, Erwin S. Chemerinsky of the University of California School of Law, John W. Barrett of Barrett Law Group PA, Richard Barrett of Law Offices of Richard R. Barrett PLLC, Jonathan L. Loew and Steven P. Blonder of Much Shelist Denenberg Ament & Rubenstein PC, Patrick W. Pendley of Pendley Baudin & Coffin LLP, Thomas P. Thrash and Marcus N. Bozeman of Thrash Law Firm PA, W. Gordon Ball of Gordon Ball PLLC and Stephen A. Saltzburg of Stephen A. Saltzburg, Attorney at Law.

The State Farm Racketeering Class Action Lawsuit is Mark Hale, et al. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, et al., Case No. 3:12-cv-0660, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: On Oct. 26, 2019, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks from a State Farm non-OEM crash parts class action settlement worth as much as $104. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!