Settlement with Freight Forwarding Companies
Freight forwarding companies around the world (“Defendants”) were sued by a group of businesses (“Plaintiffs”), who claim that the companies conspired to fix the price for freight forwarding services during certain periods. The Court has not decided in favor of either side. The parties have agreed to resolve this case by Settlements to avoid the time, expense, and uncertainty associated with resolving this case by a jury trial.
Settlement with Freight Forwarding Companies Instructions
Freight forwarding companies around the world were sued by a group of businesses who claim that the companies conspired, in violation of antitrust laws, to fix the prices for freight forwarding services during certain time periods. The Plaintiffs claim that the Defendants’ conspiracies were worldwide, including on shipping routes between the United States and China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom. Plaintiffs claim that Defendants agreed to fix various charges and surcharges associated with providing freight forwarding services.
You are included in one or more of the Settlements (as a Class Member) 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 from January 1, 2001 through September 14, 2012. Check the Court Notice for the list of the Settlement Defendants.
Your legal rights are affected whether you act or don’t act.
- Submit a Claim Form by November 22, 2013. In order to be eligible to receive payment, you need to submit a Claim Form by mail or online.
- Exclude yourself by June 25, 2013. Get no benefit from the Settlement.
- Object by June 25, 2013. Write to the Court if you do not like the Settlement.
- Go to a Hearing at August 9, 2013 at 10:00 am. You may speak at the hearing about any objection you have to the Settlement.
The Settlement Defendants have agreed to pay a minimum of $105,611,864.54 for the benefit of the Class. This money will be put into a Settlement Fund that will be distributed to Class Members. You can view the settling Defendants’ specific contribution to the Settlement Fund at the Long Form Notice Question 7.
Please pay attention to the important dates on the left side of the homepage. You can find Claim Form, Long Form Notice and much more documents related to the Settlement in the “Important Document” tag. If you have any questions, pleas hit FAQs button on the left side for help.
Visit the website www.freightforwardcase.com to find detailed information about the Settlement if you are involved in the case.
About Freight Forwarders
A freight forwarder, forwarder, or forwarding agent, is a person or company that organizes shipments for individuals or corporations to get goods from the manufacturer or producer to a market, customer or final point of distribution. A forwarder contracts with carriers to move cargo ranging from raw agricultural products to manufactured goods. One of the earliest freight forwarders was Thomas Meadows and Company Limited of London, England, established in 1836.
Reference Links
- Freight Forwarder on Wikipedia – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freight_forwarder
- Top 25 Global Freight Forwarders – www.3plogistics.com/top25_ff.htm
