Court Grants Final Approval to $10,000,000 Class Action Settlement
On December 12, 2011, the Johnson Circuit Court granted final approval to a partial class action settlement agreement negotiated by Cohen & Malad, LLP involving payment of over $10,000,000 as part of the resolution of certain claims of thousands of customers who purchased pre-need cemetery goods and services at Indiana cemeteries. The class action lawsuit brings claims on behalf of consumers whose funds were looted from pre-need cemetery trusts. The final approval order follows an attempt by a non-settling defendant to object to the settlement, which was rejected by the Indiana Court of Appeals earlier this year in a decision which adopted the standard from other jurisdictions to hold that under Indiana law non-settling defendants who suffer no prejudice from a settlement lack standing to challenge a partial settlement among other parties.
