BrownGreer performed an extensive audit of the performance of the Claims Administrator of an $835 million litigation settlement brought against AIG by the Securities Exchange Commission alleging that the company’s disclosures had artificially inflated the market prices of its common stock and corporate bonds during a specified trading period. On a compressed timetable, we mastered the intricacies of the entire claim database of more than 10 million transactions and a multi-step damages formula, and identified significant corrections necessary in the claims processing methodology to enhance the accuracy of the claims adjudication in the settlement program.

BrownGreer served as the Claims Administrator of a voluntary settlement program that began in 2011 of $750 million with an anticipated 11,000 farmers and landlords arising out of allegations that long grain rice crops were contaminated by the presence of genetically modified rice produced by Bayer CropScience, Inc.

This program resolved allegations that the Best Buy Reward Zone® Credit Cards, co-branded with Capital One, N.A., were issued without required disclosure of annual fees. BrownGreer served as the Notice and Settlement Administrator.

Appointed in March 2008 by the Circuit Court in St. Louis, Missouri, upon the recommendation of all parties, BrownGreer served as the Claims Administrator of a preliminarily approved Class Action Settlement involving more than 22,000 uninsured patients who received healthcare treatment between 1999 and 2008 at any of 11 hospitals that make up the BJC Health System.

BrownGreer assisted with claims administration beginning on April of 2011 when retained by Class Counsel and the Track A Neutrals to participate in the review and adjudication of claims filed by African American farmers. The settlement fund, established by the Farm, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 and the Claims Resolution Act of 2010, provides $1.25 billion for a nationwide claims resolution program. We provide system design input and review process protocols for the Neutrals, Class Counsel and the Claims Administrator. In addition, BrownGreer performed the initial evaluation of approximately 35,000 claims and the preparation of preliminary determinations for consideration and approval by the Court-appointed Neutrals.

From June 2010, until March 2012, BrownGreer assisted Claims Administrator Kenneth Feinberg with claims processing, including claims for physical injury, for the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (“GCCF”) that established a $20 billion voluntary settlement fund as agreed by the federal government and BP. From March until May 2012, pending launch of a new settlement program, BrownGreer processed claims under a Transition Process, directed by Claims Administrator Patrick Juneau and Transition Coordinator Lynn Greer. The GCCF ceased operations on June 3, 2012, and the remaining claims and settlement funds of approximately $7.8 billion transferred to the new Court-Supervised Settlement Program that resolved the class action, In Re: BP Oil Spill Settlement. BrownGreer assisted the Claims Administrator with all aspects of the new Court Supervised Settlement Program. In connection with this program, BrownGreer operated a Claims Center in New Orleans and satellite Claimant Assistance Centers in the Gulf States to meet with claimants and facilitate claim submissions.

BrownGreer administered a settlement involving nearly 9 million class members relating to benefits available under Capital One’s Payment Protection Plan. After launching the program in August 2010, BrownGreer planned and managed the mailing of all notices, received and processed all claim forms and issued all benefit checks by November 2011.

Consent decree between a financial services company and the Department of Justice to resolve alleged violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. BrownGreer planned and managed the mailing of all notices, received and processed all claim forms and issued payments.

Our firm administered a settlement of claims by class members relating to the repossession of vehicles. BrownGreer mailed to all class members the Court approved Notice and handled distribution of the settlement proceeds.

BrownGreer administered a settlement to class members who purchased automobiles from CarMax stores in Maryland. BrownGreer mailed to all class members the court approved notice and a certificate that could be used at a CarMax location or returned for cash redemption. We handled the redemption of the cash claims and issued checks to all eligible class members.

BrownGreer administered a settlement of more than $3 million to class members who purchased automobiles from CarMax stores in South Carolina. Class members received three mailings, including court approved notice, benefit coupons along with claim forms and a potential additional payment to class members. BrownGreer printed, processed and administered all aspects of the coupon and fund distribution.

Our firm handled the claims administration for the $60 million Chattem Settlement Trust for claims related to an over-the-counter diet supplement. BrownGreer’s duties included receiving and processing all claims for completeness, coordinating benefit payments from the trust, handling all opt-outs and accounting for tax withholdings and liens.

BrownGreer served as Notice Administrator in a class action settlement that resulted in charitable donations to resolve claims of antitrust activities by two drug producers in the sale of Children’s Ibuprofen. BrownGreer successfully disseminated notice in multiple national publications and designed and implemented an internet notification campaign while also creating and maintaining a website for class member communications.

BrownGreer administers the settlement by Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. for the replacement and removal of drywall from identified eligible homes in the consolidated MDL in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. In January of 2011, that Court appointed Lynn Greer as the Special Master for the purpose of collecting indicia from plaintiffs to determine whether the homes in question contain Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, Wuhu or Dongguan drywall and resolving disputes concerning the sufficiency of such indicia, during the Chinese Drywall MDL proceeding.

As outside and in-house counsel, the founding members of BrownGreer handled from opening to closing the three trust funds created in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding of the A.H. Robins Company to resolve more than 300,000 Dalkon Shield Claims.

Orran Brown advised the Trust’s management, Trustees, inside counsel and other outside counsel in the United States and other countries on the legal and managerial aspects of the Trust’s fiduciary duties, operations (including employment issues and the Trust’s lease, banking, investment and other contractual relationships), claims processing arrangements and coordination and design of Alternative Dispute Resolution, arbitration and trial proceedings on Dalkon Shield Claims.

Lynn Greer is the former General Counsel, Manager of the Legal Department and Executive Director of the Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust. Lynn directed outside trial counsel, managing and coordinating the defense of more than 600 product liability cases nationwide. She interviewed and hired defense counsel in thirty-five states, planned and conducted training sessions for outside counsel on medical, legal and policy issues in the Dalkon Shield litigation and developed computer systems to track case activity and outside counsel costs.

In their roles with the Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust, Orran and Lynn were instrumental in leading the Trust to closure eight years ahead of schedule and contributed significantly to what has been hailed as one of the most successful mass claims resolutions in history.

We administered a $2.5 million class action settlement involving misapplication of loan proceeds by mortgage lending agent EquiCredit. BrownGreer coordinated with counsel, advised on settlement procedures, edited settlement documents and oversaw the progress of notification, payment and resolution of the case. The firm successfully generated mailings and distributed notices to almost 13,000 class members to two different populations and coordinated with Equifax to issue checks to class members that could no longer be compensated by offsetting loans held with the company.

Founding Partner Orran Brown has served as Liaison Counsel for Wyeth and Pfizer to the $5 billion AHP settlement Trust for more than 700,000 claimants in the national class action settlement of “Fen-Phen” diet drug claims. For this matter, which launched in 1999 and is ongoing, BrownGreer handles countless legal and administrative issues arising in the implementation of the Settlement Agreement, including reviewing claims, working with the Trustee of the facility, notices to the class and evidentiary and other hearings before the supervisory federal district court on such matters.

As the Settlement Administrator for a class action brought on behalf of 84,000 members alleging illegal markups on mortgage loans provided by GMAC, BrownGreer issued notices to all class members and distributed benefit checks after the settlement received final judicial approval.

BrownGreer advised Guidant and its counsel regarding claims processing for deceased claimants in a voluntary settlement program. The settlement, which involved certain Guidant cardiac resynchronization therapy devices, implantable cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers, was reached in the MDL litigation before the Hon. Donovan W. Frank of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota in St. Paul, Minnesota. We assisted with representative capacity issues and court approvals and contributed to the effort to secure finality on the claims of deceased claimants and incapacitated or deceased derivative claimants.

In June 2009, BrownGreer was retained by Feinberg and Rozen, LLP to assist the Fee Committee appointed in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding of Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. The Fee Committee was responsible for advising the Court on whether the fees and expenses submitted by Retained Professionals were in correct amounts and were reasonable or excessive. Retained Professionals seeking compensation were required to submit monthly statements to the parties, and to file Interim Fee Applications with the Court at four month intervals. BrownGreer assisted the Fee Committee by receiving and processing the monthly statements and Interim Fee Application data, developing and maintaining a database to store that information, reviewing fee and expense data to determine compliance with court established guidelines and developing reports for the Fee Committee summarizing BrownGreer’s findings.

BrownGreer was the Notice Administrator for a wage and hour class action settlement involving approximately 1,300 current and former employees of Marshall Durbin Food Corporation, Inc. in Jasper, Alabama. BrownGreer issued English and Spanish notices to current and former employees.

Class action settlement by a financial institution to resolve claims under state privacy and wiretapping laws concerning the alleged recording of outbound customer service calls. BrownGreer served as Notice and Claims Administrator.

BrownGreer acted as an expert witness in the class action field and advisor to the court on the adequacy of notification procedures and the overall settlement for class members in a large consumer class action involving improper monthly billing by Nextel Communications. The notice campaign reached nearly five million class members.

In our capacity as Notice Administrator in an antitrust settlement involving antitrust activities by two drug producers regarding the sale of Ovcon 35 oral contraceptive, BrownGreer designed a national notice campaign covering print and internet media targeting appropriate consumer demographics, as well as created and maintained a website for Class Member communications. The settlement called for payments to individual states and donations of pharmaceutical products to resolve claims of antitrust activities.

As the Claims Administrator in a Class Action Settlement related to the distribution of OxyContin from several clinics in South Carolina, BrownGreer provided full service claims administration beginning with the Notice program. We were responsible for all aspects of the claims database, registration determinations, completeness reviews, toll-free call center and communications with the class and counsel, benefits determinations and payments, appeals of claims determinations and reports to the parties and the supervisory court.

BrownGreer was the Settlement Administrator for a wage and hour class action brought by approximately 3,000 current and former employees of PM Beef Holdings, LLC. We provided personalized English and Spanish notices to current and former employees and handled all communications with the class, tracked objections and opt-outs and administered the settlement fund.

In May 2015, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida appointed Orran Brown, Sr. as Special Master to coordinate discovery in the Record Company Infringement Litigation. In his role as Special Master, Orran oversaw all aspects of discovery including coordinating discovery, maintaining online discovery calendars, conducting status calls with the parties, issuing Rulings and Procedures, implementing Plans and reporting to the Court.

BrownGreer was the Claims Administrator for an employment class action under the Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) covering more than 16,000 employees of Sanderson Foods, alleging unpaid overtime wages. We distributed Notices, tracked those employees who chose to opt-in to the settlement and distributed benefits under the terms of the agreement. Notice and communications were made available in both English and Spanish.

BrownGreer served as the Project Management Office in the MDL against AstraZeneca regarding its antipsychotic drug Seroquel. The Court appointed Orran Brown as the Special Master for all case-specific discovery in the coordinated cases that included more than 10,000 plaintiffs. The Court directed BrownGreer to determine the availability of witnesses for depositions, coordinate with liaison counsel for the parties, witnesses and counsel for the witnesses to schedule depositions, facilitate the steps needed to adhere to the deposition and other discovery deadlines set by the Court, maintain a deposition calendar; facilitate (and, if necessary, direct by order) the resolution among the parties and deponents of scheduling conflicts and changes to the deposition schedule and provide regularly scheduled reports and custom reports as requested on the progress of such discovery. As Special Master, Orran oversaw and coordinated all these tasks, working with the parties and the Court.

As the Settlement Administrator for three wage and hour class actions brought by approximately 10,000 current and former employees of Smithfield Foods in three different states, BrownGreer provided personalized English and Spanish notices to current and former employees and handled all communications with the class, tracked objections and opt-outs and administered the three settlement funds.

BrownGreer was the Trustee of the $173.5 million U.S. Special Rates Trust created in the settlement of class action litigation by the National Treasury Employees Union against the United States Government. The Settlement provided back pay to more than 212,000 current and former “special salary rate” federal employees. As Trustee, we supervised the administration of the settlement and the claims adjudicator who heard contested determinations and ensured that the Settlement was correctly and economically implemented.

BrownGreer provided legal representation, management and claims administration for the $1 billion Sulzer Settlement Trust for 11,000 claimants relating to hip and knee replacement devices. We assisted in designing claims forms, drafting the court-approved notice to class members and designing the claims administration processes for reviewing claims and scheduling payment. We received and maintained an inventory of claim submissions, designed and maintained the database to track and assist with the processing of those claims and staffed a call center with carefully trained operators who responded to class member and attorney inquiries.

BrownGreer was the Claims Administrator of $200,000 settlement based on the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) involving approximately 80,000 class members who applied for automobile loans between 2001 and 2004. We prepared the Class Notice, tracked the receipt of Opt-Out and Claim Forms and made payments to eligible Class Members.

We acted as Notice Administrator for a wage and hour class action settlement involving approximately 4,000 current and former employees of Tyson Foods, Inc. in Storm Lake, Iowa. BrownGreer issued English and Spanish notices to current and former employees; and received and tracked consent forms, objections and opt-outs.

We acted as Notice Administrator for a wage and hour class action settlement involving approximately 8,500 current and former employees of Tyson Foods, Inc. in Lexington, Nebraska. BrownGreer issued English and Spanish notices to current and former employees; and received and tracked consent forms, objections and opt-outs.

BrownGreer was selected by the parties and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana to serve as the Claims Administrator for the entire $4.85 billion nationwide settlement program for claims relating to Vioxx, the painkiller manufactured by Merck and withdrawn from the market in 2004 amid allegations of heart attacks and strokes caused by the drug. In this role since November 2007, we provided full processing and resolution services to implement the November 9, 2007 Settlement Agreement reached by the parties for the nearly 60,000 claims arising from Vioxx use. BrownGreer moved more than 20,000 heart attack claims from start to finish in nine months time, including appeals. We designed the eligibility criteria and administered two funds with $300 million available to pay extraordinary injury claims, which included claims for lost income resulting from disability.