Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-5_13-cv-04303/USCOURTS-cand-5_13-cv-04303-15/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 890
Nature of Suit: Other Statutory Actions
Cause of Action: 28:1331 Fed. Question

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Case No. 13-CV-04303-LHK 

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT, DIRECTING NOTICE TO CLASS, AND SETTING 

FINAL APPROVAL HEARING 

1 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

SAN JOSE DIVISION 

PAUL PERKINS, PENNIE SEMPELL, ANN 

BRANDWEIN, ERIN EGGERS, CLARE 

CONNAUGHTON, JAKE KUSHNER, 

NATALIE RICHSTONE, NICOLE CROSBY, 

and LESLIE WALL; individually and on 

behalf of all others similarly situated, 

Plaintiffs,

v. 

LINKEDIN CORPORATION, 

Defendant. 

Case No. 13-CV-04303-LHK 

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY 

APPROVAL OF PROPOSED 

SETTLEMENT, DIRECTING NOTICE TO 

CLASS, AND SETTING FINAL 

APPROVAL HEARING 

Judge: Hon. Lucy H. Koh 

Action Filed: September 17, 2013 

WHEREAS, a putative class action captioned Perkins et al. v. LinkedIn, Case No. 13-CV04303-LHK is pending before the Court, and 

WHEREAS, Paul Perkins, Pennie Sempell, Ann Brandwein, Erin Eggers, Clare 

Connaughton, Jake Kushner, Natalie Richstone, Nicole Crosby, and Leslie Wall (collectively, the 

“Plaintiffs” or “Class Representatives”), individually and in their representative capacities on 

behalf of the Settlement Class, and LinkedIn Corporation (“Defendant” or “LinkedIn”) (Plaintiffs 

and LinkedIn collectively, the “Parties,” or singularly, “Party”) have entered into an Amended 

Settlement Agreement and Release (“Settlement Agreement”), ECF No. 105-2, which, together 

with the exhibits attached thereto (as amended by the Court and attached to this Order), sets forth 

the terms and conditions for a proposed settlement and dismissal of the Action with prejudice as to 

Defendant for the claims of the Settlement Class upon the terms and conditions set forth in the 

Settlement Agreement, and the Court having read and considered the Settlement Agreement and 

exhibits attached thereto; 

Case 5:13-cv-04303-LHK Document 106 Filed 09/15/15 Page 1 of 8
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Case No. 13-CV-04303-LHK 

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT, DIRECTING NOTICE TO CLASS, AND SETTING 

FINAL APPROVAL HEARING 

2 

This matter coming before the Court upon the agreement of the Parties and the motion of 

Plaintiffs seeking preliminary approval of the Settlement Agreement, good cause being shown, 

and the Court being fully advised in the premises, 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, DECREED, AND ADJUDGED AS FOLLOWS: 

1. Terms and phrases in this order shall have the same meaning as ascribed to them in 

the Settlement Agreement. 

Settlement Class Certification for Settlement Purposes Only 

2. A class (the “Settlement Class”) is certified for settlement purposes only. 

a. The Settlement Class is defined to include: “[A]ll current and former 

LinkedIn members who used Add Connections to import information from external email 

accounts and to send emails to persons who were non-members in which the member’s name, 

photograph, likeness and/or identity was displayed between September 17, 2011 and October 31, 

2014.” Excluded from the Settlement Class are the following: (1) Defendant, its subsidiaries, and 

affiliates and each of their respective officers, directors and employees, (2) Class Counsel and 

Defendant’s Counsel, and (3) any judicial officer to whom the Action is assigned. 

b. The requirements for class certification under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(a). The 

Settlement Class consists of approximately 20.8 million persons, there are questions of law or fact 

common to the Settlement Class, Plaintiffs’ claims are typical of those of the Settlement Class, 

and Plaintiffs will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the Settlement Class. 

c. In addition, the questions of law or fact common to the Settlement Class 

predominate over any individual questions, and the class action mechanism is superior to other 

available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of this controversy. Consequently, the 

Settlement Class satisfies the requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(3). 

3. The Court hereby appoints Plaintiffs Paul Perkins, Pennie Sempell, Ann 

Brandwein, Erin Eggers, Clare Connaughton, Jake Kushner, Natalie Richstone, Nicole Crosby, 

and Leslie Wall as Class Representatives. 

Case 5:13-cv-04303-LHK Document 106 Filed 09/15/15 Page 2 of 8
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Case No. 13-CV-04303-LHK 

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT, DIRECTING NOTICE TO CLASS, AND SETTING 

FINAL APPROVAL HEARING 

3 

4. The Court hereby appoints Michael W. Sobol, Nicholas R. Diamand, and Melissa 

Gardner of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP; Dorian S. Berger and Daniel P. Hipskind 

of Olavi Dunne LLP; and Larry C. Russ of Russ, August & Kabat as Class Counsel. 

Preliminary Approval 

5. Plaintiffs have moved the Court for an order approving the settlement of the Action 

in accordance with the Settlement Agreement, which, together with the documents incorporated 

therein, sets forth the terms and conditions for a proposed settlement and dismissal of the Action 

with prejudice against Defendant, and the Court having read and considered the Settlement 

Agreement and having heard the Parties and being fully advised in the premises, hereby 

preliminarily approves the Settlement Agreement in its entirety subject to the Final Approval 

Hearing referred to in Paragraph 20 of this order. 

6. This Court finds that it has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action and 

over all Parties to the Action, including all members of the Settlement Class. 

7. The Court finds that, subject to the Final Approval Hearing, the Settlement 

Agreement falls within the range of possible approval as fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best 

interests of the Settlement Class. The Court further finds that the Settlement Agreement 

substantially fulfills the purposes and objectives of the class action, and provides beneficial relief 

to the Settlement Class. The Court also finds that the Settlement Agreement (a) is the result of 

serious, informed, non-collusive arm’s length negotiations involving experienced counsel familiar 

with the legal and factual issues of this case and made with the assistance of Antonio Piazza of 

Mediated Negotiations; (b) is sufficient to warrant notice of the Settlement Agreement and the 

Final Approval Hearing to the Settlement Class; (c) meets all applicable requirements of law, 

including Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, and the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”), 28 

U.S.C. § 1715; and (d) is not a finding or admission of liability by Defendant.

Notice and Administration 

8. Gilardi & Co. LLC (“Gilardi”) is hereby appointed as Settlement Administrator and 

shall perform all the duties of the Settlement Administrator as set forth in the Settlement 

Agreement and this order. 

Case 5:13-cv-04303-LHK Document 106 Filed 09/15/15 Page 3 of 8
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Case No. 13-CV-04303-LHK 

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT, DIRECTING NOTICE TO CLASS, AND SETTING 

FINAL APPROVAL HEARING 

4 

9. The Court finds that the Notice and Notice Plan as set forth in the Settlement 

Agreement are reasonably calculated to, under all circumstances, apprise the members of the 

Settlement Class of the pendency of this action, certification of the Settlement Class for settlement 

purposes only, the terms of the Settlement Agreement, and their right to object to the Settlement or 

to exclude themselves from the Settlement Class. The Notice and Notice Plan are consistent with 

the requirements of Rule 23 and due process, and constitute the best notice practicable under the 

circumstances. 

10. The Court thus hereby approves the Notice and the Notice Plan, including the 

Email Notice and Website Notice as amended by the Court and attached as Exhibits B and C, 

respectively, to this Order. The Court also approves the Claim Form, as amended by the Court 

and attached as Exhibit A to this Order, and claims administration procedures set forth in the 

Settlement Agreement. The Parties may, by agreement, revise the Notice and/or Claim Form in 

ways that are not material, or in ways that are appropriate to update these documents for purposes 

of accuracy or formatting. 

11. Pursuant to Section 5 of the Settlement Agreement, the Notice Plan shall be 

implemented as follows: Within thirty (30) days following the entry of this order (the “Notice 

Date”), LinkedIn shall send or cause to be sent the Email Notice, as amended by the Court and 

attached as Exhibit B to this Order, to each Person in the Settlement Class using the email address 

that LinkedIn has on file for their LinkedIn account. The Email Notice shall include a hypertext 

link to the Settlement Website. For emails that result in a bounce-back or are otherwise 

undeliverable, an attempt will be made to re-send the Email Notice once prior to the Notice Date. 

With the involvement and approval of the Parties, and starting no later than the start of the 

dissemination of Email Notice to the Settlement Class, the Settlement Administrator shall publish 

the Website Notice, as amended by the Court and attached as Exhibit C to this Order, through the 

Settlement Website. The Settlement Website shall be developed, hosted, and maintained by the 

Settlement Administrator through the Final Settlement Date and shall include the ability to submit 

Claim Forms electronically. 

Case 5:13-cv-04303-LHK Document 106 Filed 09/15/15 Page 4 of 8
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Case No. 13-CV-04303-LHK 

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT, DIRECTING NOTICE TO CLASS, AND SETTING 

FINAL APPROVAL HEARING 

5 

12. Settlement Class Members who wish to receive a payment under the Settlement 

Agreement must complete and submit a timely and valid Claim Form. A Settlement Class 

Member may file only one (1) Claim Form, regardless of how many LinkedIn accounts he, she, or 

it may have. All Claim Forms must be postmarked or received by the Settlement Administrator on 

or before the Claims Deadline, which is hereby set as December 14, 2015. 

Exclusion 

13. Settlement Class members who wish to exclude themselves from the Settlement 

Class for purposes of this settlement may do so by submitting a request for exclusion to the 

Settlement Administrator on or before the Objection/Exclusion Deadline, which is hereby set as 

December 14, 2015. The request for exclusion must comply with the exclusion procedures set 

forth in the Settlement Agreement and include the case number of the Action, the member’s name, 

address, email address associated with his, her, or its LinkedIn account, phone number, signature, 

and a statement that he or she wishes to be excluded from the Settlement Class for purposes of this 

settlement. A request for exclusion may not request exclusion of more than one Settlement Class 

Member. 

14. Any member of the Settlement Class who timely requests exclusion consistent with 

these procedures shall not (i) be bound by the Final Order and Judgment; (ii) be entitled to relief 

under the Settlement Agreement; (iii) gain any rights by virtue of the Settlement Agreement; or 

(iv) be entitled to object to any aspect of the Settlement Agreement. However, Settlement Class 

Members who fail to submit a valid and timely request for exclusion shall be bound by all terms of 

the Settlement Agreement and the Final Order and Judgment, regardless of whether they have 

otherwise requested exclusion from the Settlement Class. 

Objections 

15. Any member of the Settlement Class who has not filed a timely and valid request 

for exclusion may object to the granting of final approval to the Settlement Agreement. 

Settlement Class Members may object on their own, or may do so through separate counsel at 

their own expense. 

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Case No. 13-CV-04303-LHK 

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT, DIRECTING NOTICE TO CLASS, AND SETTING 

FINAL APPROVAL HEARING 

6 

16. Any objection must be in writing, must be personally signed by the objector, and 

must include: (1) the name of the Action and case number, “Perkins v. LinkedIn Corp., Case No. 

5:13-CV-04303-LHK”; (2) the objector’s name, address, email address associated with his, her, or 

its LinkedIn account, and contact phone number; (3) an explanation of the basis upon which the 

objector claims to be a member of the Settlement Class; (4) the grounds for the objection, 

including any supporting law or evidence, if any; (5) the name and contact information of any and 

all attorneys representing, advising, or in any way assisting the objector in connection with the 

preparation or submission of the objection or who may profit from the pursuit of the objection; 

and (6) a statement indicating whether the objector intends to appear at the Final Approval 

Hearing (either personally or through counsel who files an appearance with the Court in 

accordance with the Local Rules). 

17. All objections and any papers submitted in support of such objections must be 

submitted to the Court on or before the Objection/Exclusion Deadline either by mailing them to 

Judge Koh’s Case System Administrator at the United States Courthouse, 280 South 1st Street, 

Room 2112, San Jose, CA 95113, or by filing them in person at any location of the United States 

District Court for the Northern District of California, except that any objection made by a 

Settlement Class Member represented by counsel must be filed through the Court’s Case 

Management/Electronic Case Filing (CM/ECF) system. 

18. Any Settlement Class Member who fails to timely mail or file a written objection 

with the Court and notice of his or her intent to appear at the Final Approval Hearing in 

accordance with the terms of this Settlement Agreement and as detailed in the Notice shall not be 

permitted to object to the Settlement at the Final Approval Hearing, and shall be foreclosed from 

seeking any review of the Settlement by appeal or other means and shall be deemed to have 

waived his, her, or its objections and be forever barred from making any such objections in the 

Action or any other action or proceeding. 

Final Approval Hearing 

19. A Final Approval Hearing shall be held before this Court on February 11, 2016, at 

1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 8 of the United States Courthouse, 280 South 1st Street, 4th Floor, San 

Case 5:13-cv-04303-LHK Document 106 Filed 09/15/15 Page 6 of 8
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Case No. 13-CV-04303-LHK 

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT, DIRECTING NOTICE TO CLASS, AND SETTING 

FINAL APPROVAL HEARING 

7 

Jose, CA 95113 to consider: (a) whether the proposed settlement of the Action on the terms and 

conditions provided for in the Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, and adequate and should 

be given final approval by the Court; (b) whether a final judgment should be entered; (c) whether 

to award payment of attorney’s fees and expenses to Class Counsel and in what amount; and (d) 

whether to award payment of an incentive award to the Class Representative and in what amount. 

The Court may adjourn the Final Approval Hearing without further notice to Class Members. 

20. At least fourteen (14) days prior to the Objection/Exclusion Deadline, Plaintiffs 

shall file with the Court their motion for attorney’s fees, costs, and service awards, which shall be 

posted to the Settlement Website on the date of filing. 

21. No later than January 14, 2016, Plaintiffs shall file with the Court their motion for 

final approval, which shall be posted to the Settlement Website on the date of filing. 

22. No later than February 4, 2016, Plaintiffs shall file any replies in support of 

Plaintiffs’ motion for attorney’s fees, costs, and service awards and Plaintiffs’ motion for final 

approval, both of which shall be posted to the Settlement Website on the date of filing. 

Further Matters 

23. In order to protect its jurisdiction to consider the fairness of the Settlement 

Agreement and to enter a Final Order and Judgment having binding effect on all Settlement Class 

Members, the Court hereby enjoins all members of the Settlement Class, and anyone who acts or 

purports to act on their behalf, from pursuing any of the Released Claims. 

24. Settlement Class Members shall be bound by all determinations and judgments in 

the Action concerning the Action and/or Settlement Agreement, whether favorable or unfavorable. 

25. All discovery and pretrial proceedings and deadlines are stayed and suspended until 

further notice from the Court, except for such actions as are necessary to implement the Settlement 

Agreement and this Order. 

26. In the event that the Settlement Agreement is terminated pursuant to the provisions 

of the Settlement Agreement, then (a) the Settlement Agreement, this Preliminary Approval Order, 

and the Final Order and Judgment (if applicable) (including but not limited to the certification of 

the Settlement Class, the appointment of Plaintiffs as Class Representatives, and the appointment 

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Case No. 13-CV-04303-LHK 

ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT, DIRECTING NOTICE TO CLASS, AND SETTING 

FINAL APPROVAL HEARING 

8 

of Class Counsel) shall be vacated and shall be null and void, shall have no further force and effect 

with respect to any Party in this Action, and shall not be used in this Action or in any other 

proceeding for any purpose; (b) this action will revert to the status that existed before the 

Settlement Agreement’s execution date; (c)(i) no term or draft of the Settlement Agreement, (ii) 

nor any part of the Parties’ settlement discussions, negotiations, or documentation (including any 

declaration or brief filed in support of the motion for preliminary approval or motion for final 

approval), (iii) nor any rulings regarding class certification for settlement purposes (including the 

Preliminary Approval Order and, if applicable, the Final Order and Judgment), will have any 

effect or be admissible into evidence for any purpose in the Action or any other proceeding. 

27. The Court may, for good cause, extend any of the deadlines set forth in this Order 

without further notice to the Settlement Class Members. The Final Approval Hearing may, from 

time to time and without further notice to the Settlement Class Members, be continued by order of 

the Court. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Date: September 15, 2015 

 HON. LUCY H. KOH 

 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 

Case 5:13-cv-04303-LHK Document 106 Filed 09/15/15 Page 8 of 8