1:14-Cv-10318 Document #: 669-1 Filed: 09/10/19 Page 1 of 189 Pageid #:15116
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Case: 1:14-cv-10318 Document #: 669-1 Filed: 09/10/19 Page 1 of 189 PageID #:15116 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION In re Navistar MaxxForce Engines ) Case No. 1:14-cv-10318 Marketing, Sales Practices and Products ) Liability Litigation ) This filing applies to: ) All Class Cases ) ) Judge Joan B. Gottschall ) ) DECLARATION OF JONATHAN D. SELBIN IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR AN AWARD OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND EXPENSES AND FOR CLASS REPRESENTATIVE SERVICE AWARDS I, Jonathan D. Selbin, declare as follows: 1. I am a partner in the law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP (“LCHB”), and Interim Co-Lead Class Counsel for the Plaintiffs in this Multi-District Litigation. I am admitted to this Court’s general bar and am a member in good standing of the bars of the States of California and New York, and the bar of the District of Columbia. I respectfully submit this declaration in support of the Plaintiffs’ Motion for an Award of Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses and for Class Representative Service Awards. Except as otherwise noted, I have personal knowledge of the facts set forth in this declaration, and could testify competently to them if called upon to do so. 2. I graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1993 and clerked for The Honorable Marilyn Hall Patel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California between 1993 and 1995. I have worked at LCHB since 1995, starting as an associate and advancing through to partnership. I currently serve on the firm’s Executive Committee and am Chair of the firm’s economic injury product defect group. As set forth below, I have 1832164.3 Case: 1:14-cv-10318 Document #: 669-1 Filed: 09/10/19 Page 2 of 189 PageID #:15116 extensive experience litigating class actions and multi-district litigations (“MDLs”), especially consumer and product defect class actions. 3. I believe that the requested fees and costs, which represent, at most, a negligible multiplier on the time and costs invested by Co-Lead Class Counsel and other firms, are fair and reasonable under controlling law, particularly in light of the excellent result realized for the Class. I also believe that the requested service awards are fair, even modest, compensation for the services rendered by the Named Plaintiffs. LCHB’s and My Background and Experience 4. LCHB is a national law firm with offices in San Francisco, New York, and Nashville. LCHB’s practice focuses on complex and class action litigation involving product liability, consumer, employment, financial, securities, antitrust, environmental, and personal injury matters. Attached as Exhibit A to this declaration is a true and correct copy of LCHB’s current firm resume, showing some of the firm’s experience in complex and class action litigation. This resume is not a complete listing of all cases in which LCHB has been class counsel or counsel of record. 5. Lieff Cabraser is one of the oldest, largest, most respected, and most successful law firms in the country that represents plaintiffs in class actions. The firm brings to the table a wealth of class action experience. LCHB has been recognized repeatedly as one of the top plaintiffs’ law firms in the country. The National Law Journal has recognized Lieff Cabraser as one of the nation’s top plaintiffs’ law firms for fourteen years, and we are a member of its Plaintiffs’ Hot List Hall of Fame, “representing the best qualities of the plaintiffs’ bar and demonstrating unusual dedication and creativity.” The National Law Journal separately recognized Lieff Cabraser as one of the “50 Leading Plaintiffs Firms in America.” In late - 2 - 1832164.3 Case: 1:14-cv-10318 Document #: 669-1 Filed: 09/10/19 Page 3 of 189 PageID #:15116 summer 2019, the Journal named Lieff Cabraser “2019 Elite Trial Lawyers” in the areas of Consumer Protection and Privacy/Data Breach. In September of 2019, and for the fourth time, Law360 named Lieff Cabraser a “California Powerhouse” firm. In 2018 Law360 selected LCHB as a “Class Action Practice Group of the Year,” and in 2017 selected the firm for “Practice Group of the Year” awards in the categories of Consumer Protection and Digital Privacy/Data Protection. In 2016, Law360 selected LCHB as one of the “Top 50 Law Firms Nationwide for litigation,” and chose the firm as one of the nation’s “Most Feared Plaintiff Firms” in 2015. In July of 2019, Public Justice awarded Lieff Cabraser its coveted “Trial Lawyer of the Year” award. In March 2019, Benchmark Litigation selected Lieff Cabraser as its “California Plaintiff Firm of the Year.” For 2020, Lieff Cabraser saw 21 lawyers named to the “Best Lawyers in America” listing, and we were 2018 finalists for Benchmark Litigation’s “Plaintiff Law Firm of the Year.” We were named the Daily Journal’s “California Lawyers of the Year” for 2016, 2018, and 2019, as well as having 25 lawyers named to Super Lawyers' 2019 “Super Lawyer” and “Rising Star” lists, and six lawyers named to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 and Under Hot List” for 2019. In 2016, Benchmark Litigation named LCHB to its “Top 10 Plaintiff Firms in America” list. Lawdragon has named four LCHB lawyers to its 2019 “Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers,” eight firm lawyers to its inaugural 2019 “500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers,” and five lawyers to its inaugural “Leading Plaintiff Employment Lawyers” list for 2018. 6. LCHB has extensive experience in the litigation, trial, and settlement of class actions in complex economic injury, product defect, and consumer fraud cases. In particular, LCHB has a decades-long history of serving as court-appointed lead class counsel in large vehicle-related class and complex MDL and other actions. In addition to my interim appointment in this case, a few recent examples include In re Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” - 3 - 1832164.3 Case: 1:14-cv-10318 Document #: 669-1 Filed: 09/10/19 Page 4 of 189 PageID #:15116 Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2672 (N.D. Cal.) (secured approval of cash settlements totaling $14.7 billion), where LCHB served as sole court- appointed lead counsel; In re Toyota Motor Corp. Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, No. 10-ML-02151 (C.D. Cal.) (MDL resolved over 500 personal injury cases and separately won approval of a settlement that has thus far paid about $1.6 billion for claims that the defect hurt the vehicles’ value for a 22-million-customer class), where LCHB served as one of five court-appointed lead counsel; and In re General Motors LLC Ignition Switch Litigation, MDL No. 2543 (S.D.N.Y.), where LCHB currently serves as one of three court-appointed co-lead counsel. Other examples of such vehicle-related cases in which LCHB served as one of the court-appointed lead counsel include In re Bridgestone/Firestone Tires Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 1373 (S.D. Ind.) and Hanlon v. Chrysler Corp., 150 F.3d 1011 (9th Cir. 1998). 7. Several courts in this District have appointed me as sole- or co-lead class counsel: a. I served as sole lead counsel for four consolidated actions in Smith v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., No. 1:13-cv-02018 (N.D. Ill.). On December 8, 2016, the court approved a $7 million settlement. When Judge St. Eve appointed me as lead counsel after a contested Rule 23(g) motion, she noted that “Lieff Cabraser is a well-respected plaintiffs’ firm with a wealth of experience prosecuting nationwide class actions” and that “Mr. Selbin, in particular, has played an active role in litigating nearly a dozen TCPA class actions and numerous other consumer class actions.” b. I served as one of lead class counsel in In re Sears Roebuck and Co. Front-Loading Washer Products Liability Litigation (CCU Claims), No. 06-cv-7023 (N.D. Ill.), and also served as appellate counsel. In November 2012, we obtained reversal of the district - 4 - 1832164.3 Case: 1:14-cv-10318 Document #: 669-1 Filed: 09/10/19 Page 5 of 189 PageID #:15116 court’s denial of certification of one class and affirmance of certification of another class in Butler v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., 702 F.3d 259 (7th Cir. 2012), reh’g en banc denied, (7th Cir. Dec. 19, 2012), vacated, 569 U.S. 1015 (2013), reinstated, 727 F.3d 796 (7th Cir. 2013), cert. denied, 571 U.S. 1196 (2014). On February 29, 2016, Magistrate Judge Rowland granted final approval to a nationwide settlement involving front-load washers alleged to incorporate a defective central control unit. c. I served as one of lead class counsel in Wilkins v. HSBC Bank Nev., N.A., No. 14-cv-190 (N.D. Ill.). On February 27, 2015, Judge Holderman approved a class settlement which created a fund of $39.975 million in non-reversionary cash. Judge Holderman commented on “the excellent work” and “professionalism” of LCHB and its co-counsel in securing that settlement. d. I served as one of two court-appointed co-lead counsel in In re Capital One Telephone Consumer Protection Act Litigation, No. 1:12-cv-10064 (N.D. Ill.) (MDL No. 2016). On February 12, 2015, Judge Holderman approved a class settlement which created a fund of $75.5 million in non-reversionary cash, then the largest settlement in the history of Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation. e. Together with my partner Daniel Hutchinson, I served as one of lead class counsel in Ossola v. American Express Co., et al., No.