Agenda

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County Attorney's Report 13. 1.

BCC Regular Meeting

Discussion

Meeting Date:	07/07/2015
Issue: Thomas v. ConocoPhillips, Inc. Class Action Settlement
From:	Stephen West
Department:	County Attorney's Office
CAO Approval:

RECOMMENDATION:

Recommendation Concerning Thomas v. ConocoPhillips, Inc. Class Action Settlement.

That the Board review the attached letter from RG2 Claims Administration, LLC and direct the County Attorney whether to object to the proposed distribution of the remaining funds in the Thomas v. ConocoPhillips, Inc. class action settlement.

BACKGROUND:

The plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit to recover property damages allegedly arising from environmental contamination associated with the industrial facility owned and operated by the defendant. The parties reached a $9.5 million dollar settlement and the owners of the properties in the affected area were entitled to participate in the settlement. The County owns fourteen (14) parcels within the affected area.

On July 11, 2013, the Board authorized the Chairman to execute, and the County Attorney to file, proof of claim and release forms for the various County properties entitled to participate in the settlement. The County ultimately received a distribution of $21,176.42.

The attached letter from the claims administrator states that $34,687.15 remain in undistributed settlement funds. Rather than distributing the remaining funds among the participating class members, the attorneys for the class are seeking permission from the Court to distribute the remaining funds equally between two non-profit organizations, the East Hill Neighborhood Association and the Bayou Texar Foundation.

BUDGETARY IMPACT:

If the Court were to reject the proposed distribution of the remaining funds and direct that the funds be distributed to the participating class members, a significant portion of the funds would be consumed by the cost of issuing several thousand additional checks, bank fees, and other administrative costs, and the County would anticipate receiving less than $100.

LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS/SIGN-OFF:

N/A

PERSONNEL:

N/A

POLICY/REQUIREMENT FOR BOARD ACTION:

N/A

IMPLEMENTATION/COORDINATION:

N/A

Attachments
July 11, 2013 BCC Resume
RG2 Claims Admin Letter