DECLARATION of RACHEL CHRISTMAN 5 RE: CLAIMS ADMINISTRATION 6 7 8 9 10 11 I, RACHEL CHRISTMAN, Declare: 12 1
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Case 5:16-cv-00209-HE Document 236-1 Filed 03/21/19 Page 1 of 3 1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA 2 3 IN RE ANADARKO BASIN OIL AND GAS Case No. CIV-16-0209-HE 4 LEASE ANTITRUST LITIGATION DECLARATION OF RACHEL CHRISTMAN 5 RE: CLAIMS ADMINISTRATION 6 7 8 9 10 11 I, RACHEL CHRISTMAN, declare: 12 1. I am a Senior Project Manager at Kurtzman Carson Consultants LLC (“KCC”). My 13 business address is 3301 Kerner Boulevard, San Rafael, CA 94901. I am over 21 years of age and am 14 not a party to this action. I have personal knowledge of the facts set forth herein and, if called as a 15 witness, could and would testify competently thereto. 16 2. KCC was appointed by the Court to serve as the Claims Administrator to, among other 17 tasks, a) mail the Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement (the “Notice”), b) publish the Summary 18 Notice in the appointed newspapers, c) provide toll-free call support to the Class Members; d) respond 19 to Class Member inquiries; e) establish and maintain a settlement website; e) process and evaluate Claim 20 Forms submitted by Class Members for eligibility, f) facilitate payments by check to approved 21 claimants; and f) perform other duties as specified in the Settlement Agreement preliminarily approved 22 by this Court on December 18, 2018. 23 3. Mailed Notice. On January 22, 2019, KCC mailed the Postcard Notice (collectively, the 24 “Mailed Notice”) to each of the 13,424 persons or entities on the known Class Member List identified. 25 The Postcard Notice directed known Class Members to the website for additional information and to file 26 claim forms. Attached as Exhibit 1 is a copy of the mailed notice. 27 4. As of March 15, 2019, KCC has received 2,027 Notices that were returned by the United 28 1 DECLARATION OF RACHEL CHRISTMAN RE: CLAIMS ADMINISTRATION Case 5:16-cv-00209-HE Document 236-1 Filed 03/21/19 Page 2 of 3 1 States Postal Service as undeliverable that did not contain forwarding addresses. KCC performed 2 address searches for these Notices and was able to find updated addresses for 666 Notices that were 3 returned as undeliverable. 4 5. Published Notice. KCC caused the summary notice to appear as an eighth page ad unit 5 once in each of the newspapers and on the dates and pages listed on the attached Exhibit 2. The 6 published notice had a total circulation of 316,971. Attached as Exhibit 3 is a copy of the Summary 7 Notice as it appeared in each newspaper. 8 6. On February 1, 2019, KCC caused a press release to be issued throughout the states of 9 Oklahoma and Kansas. The press release was read and reported on by media outlets 153 times and 10 reached a potential audience of 10,500,000. Attached as Exhibit 4 is the copy of the press release as 11 posted on PR Newswire. 12 7. Toll-Free Telephone Number. On or before January 22, 2019, KCC established a toll- 13 free telephone number, (844) 833-3816 dedicated to answering telephone inquiries from Class Members, 14 providing copies of the long-form Notice and Claim Form upon request. Attached as Exhibit 5 is a copy 15 of the Long Form Notice and Claim Form mailed in response to these requests. As of March 15, 2019, 16 KCC has received 475 calls to the toll-free number. 17 8. Website. On or before January 22, 2019, KCC also established a website 18 (www.anadarkosettlement.com) dedicated to this settlement to provide additional information to the 19 Class Members and to answer frequently asked questions. Visitors of the website can download copies 20 of, among other documents, the Notice, the Claim Form the Settlement Agreement, and the Preliminary 21 Approval Order. The web site also contains contact information for KCC by Post Office Box, e-mail 22 address and the toll-free number as listed in paragraph 6 above. The website also allows known and 23 potential Class Members to file claims electronically. To the extent additional data about the lessor and 24 known acreage was known and provided to KCC, Class Members can authenticate their identity using 25 codes provided on the Postcard Notice, update their address, agree with or dispute the data available to 26 them, and submit their claim. To the extent additional data was not provided, potential Class Members 27 can provide their name, contact information, acreage information and upload documentation to the site 28 substantiating their claim. As of March 15, 2019, the website has registered 32,285 total hits. 2 DECLARATION OF RACHEL CHRISTMAN RE: CLAIMS ADMINISTRATION Case 5:16-cv-00209-HE Document 236-1 Filed 03/21/19 Page 3 of 3 1 9. As of March 15, 2019, the website has also registered 904 claims filed. Of those 904 2 claims filed, 877 are from the known Class Population and 27 are from potential Class Members. 3 10. Exclusions. The long form Notice informs Class Members that they have the opportunity 4 to request exclusion from the Settlement and that any requests for exclusion must be filed with the Court 5 Clerk on or before April 4, 2019. Per the Amended Order Granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary 6 Approval of Class Action Settlement and Class Certification for Settlement Purposes (the “Preliminary 7 Approval Order”), any such requests will be provided by the Clerk to Class Counsel, who will provide a 8 copy to KCC. To date, KCC has received zero (0) requests for exclusion from the Settlement. 9 11. Objections. The Notice informs Class Members that they have the opportunity to object 10 to approval of the Settlement and that any objections must be filed with the Court Clerk on or before 11 April 4, 2019. Per the Preliminary Approval Order, any objections will be provided by the Clerk to Class 12 Counsel, who will provide a copy to KCC. To date, KCC has received zero (0) objections to the 13 Settlement. 14 I declare under penalty of perjury pursuant to the laws of the United States that the 15 foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge. Executed on this 21st day of March, 2019. 16 ______________________________________ 17 Rachel Christman 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3 DECLARATION OF RACHEL CHRISTMAN RE: CLAIMS ADMINISTRATION Case 5:16-cv-00209-HE Document 236-2 Filed 03/21/19 Page 1 of 3 EXHIBIT 1 AnadarkoCase 5:16-cv-00209-HE Settlement Claims Administrator Document 236-2 Filed 03/21/19 Page 2 of 3 c/o KCC Class Action Services P.O. Box 404073 Louisville, KY 40233-4073 LEGAL NOTICE Notice of Pendency of Settlement Approval for In re: Anadarko Basin Oil and Gas Lease Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 16-cv-209-HE <<BARCODE>> This legal Notice May Affect Your Rights Postal Service: Please Do Not Mark Barcode Please Read it carefully and Register Online at www.anadarkosettlement.com AKO-<<CLAIM8>>-<<CkDig>> If you leased an Oil & Gas Leasehold or Working Interest in Oklahoma or Kansas Between December 27, 2007 and April 1, 2013, <<FirstNAME>> <<LastNAME>> You May Be Eligible for a Payment from a $6.95 Million Settlement. <<NAME1>> A United States federal court authorized this <<ADDR1>> <<ADDR2>> notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer. <<CITY>>, <<STATE>> <<ZIP>> AKO Change of Address Only. Street Address City State Zip Code Email: <<FirstNAME>> <<LastNAME>> <<NAME1>> — — <<ADDR1>> <<ADDR2>> Area code Telephone number (home) <<CITY>>, <<STATE>> <<ZIP>> <<BARCODE<< AKO-<<CLAIM8>> ClaimCase ID: <<Claim8>> 5:16-cv-00209-HE Document 236-2 Filed 03/21/19 Page 3 of 3 PIN Code: <<PIN>> There is a Settlement with Chesapeake Energy Corp., Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C., and Tom L. Ward, and their affiliates (collectively, “Chesapeake”) in a class action lawsuit about price-fixing and setting low bonus prices paid to landowners in exchange for the right to explore for and produce minerals on the land. The lawsuit claims that Chesapeake and SandRidge Energy, Inc. and SandRidge Exploration and Production, L.L.C. (“SandRidge”) unlawfully conspired to fix, raise, maintain or stabilize lease bonuses in the Mississippi Lime Play of the Anadarko Basin Region, to reduce bonus payments to the landowners. The litigation claims that Chesapeake and Sandridge conspired to fix or set low bonus prices paid to the landowners in exchange for the chance to lease the leasehold or working interests. Instead of competing against each other to offer the landowners the highest bid or bonus price for leasing the land, Chesapeake and SandRidge conspired to provide a low bonus to the landowners. As a result, the landowners did not receive as high of a bonus payment for leasing their minerals to Chesapeake and SandRidge as they should have received. Chesapeake and SandRidge deny these claims and maintain they did nothing wrong. Plaintiffs in this lawsuit have brought an antitrust claim under the Sherman Act against Defendants. Am I included? You are included in the Settlement if you (individual or entity): owned land within the Mississippi Lime Play, and at any time between December 27, 2007 and April 1, 2013, you signed a lease with Chesapeake or SandRidge (or their affiliates or agents, such as landmen) that gave them the right to explore for and produce minerals that you own, and Chesapeake or SandRidge (or their affiliates or agents, such as landmen) paid you a bonus payment in connection with that lease.