Opinion ID: 622593
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Runyan Settlement

Text: In June 2007, a class action was filed against Life Investors in the Arkansas state court, and subsequently removed by Life Investors to the District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. See Pipes v. Life Investors Ins. Co. of Am., 254 F.R.D. 544 (E.D.Ark.2008); see also Hunter v. Runyan, 2011 Ark. 43, ___ S.W.3d ___, ___, 2011 WL 478594, at  12 (Ark.) (noting parties had been litigating against each other since June 2007 when the first of the various class action lawsuits regarding actual charges was filed), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 132 S.Ct. 243, 181 L.Ed.2d 139 (2011). Subsequent suits by the same counsel were ultimately consolidated into the Runyan case, which was brought in Arkansas state court. The parties to Runyan executed a Class Action Settlement Agreement and filed it with the state court on April 20, 2009. R. 362-2, 362-3 ( Runyan Class Action Settlement Agreement). Three days later, the Runyan court conditionally certified the settlement class and preliminarily approved the settlement. R. 401-7 (4/23/09 Runyan Prelim. Approval Order). The class was defined as follows: All persons in the United States: (i) who were an insured, covered person, or beneficiary under a Cancer Policy in force at any time from January 1, 2004 through [April 23, 2009]; or (ii) who were an insured, covered person, or beneficiary under a Non-Cancer Actual Charges Policy which was in force [on April 23, 2009], or who submitted a claim for Actual Charges Benefits under a Non-Cancer Actual Charges Policy after the effective date of the 2006 Updated Claims Procedures; or (iii) the surviving spouse or legal representative of such persons defined in (i) or (ii). Id. ¶ 2. Notice was mailed to 250,136 class members and published twice in USA Today. R. 401-2 (12/21/09 Runyan Trial Ct. Op. at 19-20). The Settlement Administrator received approximately 476 requests for exclusion, id. at 21, and eighteen individuals filed objections ... nine of [which] were subsequently withdrawn, id. at 36-37. Gooch opted out of the Runyan settlement. In re Life Investors, 589 F.3d at 331. The Arkansas state court issued final approval of the Runyan settlement on December 21, 2009the same day that the district court certified the class in this case (for the second time). Runyan, ___ S.W.3d at ___, 2011 WL 478594, at -7. The Arkansas court estimated the value of the settlement to the class members to be $151,406,757. R. 401-2 (12/21/09 Runyan Trial Ct. Op. at 18). The settlement, as approved, awarded $3,500,000 in fees, costs, and expenses to Runyan class counsel. R. 401-1 (12/21/09 Runyan Trial Ct. Order ¶ 11). The Runyan settlement contains a broad release of future suits by class members. Id. ¶ 8. The Supreme Court of Arkansas affirmed the Runyan settlement on appeal, Runyan, ___ S.W.3d at ___, 2011 WL 478594, at , and the Supreme Court denied certiorari, Crager v. Runyan, ___ U.S. ___, 132 S.Ct. 243, 181 L.Ed.2d 139 (2011).