June 23, 2004 07:38 PM US Eastern Timezone
Armenian-American Committee for a Just Settlement Criticizes Proposed
Settlement in Armenian Genocide Insurance Case
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–June 23, 2004–When a proposed
settlement of a class action lawsuit against New York Life by heirs of
unpaid Armenian Genocide insurance claims was announced recently,
attorney Mark Geragos was quoted in news reports as saying “(New York
Life) really stepped up to the plate and did what was right.” After
analyzing the proposed settlement, Ben Nutley, a Beverly Hills
attorney specializing in class actions, commented: “The only plate
that New York Life may have stepped up to is the dinner plate of
Geragos and the other plaintiff lawyers involved in the case.”
Geragos and the other three attorneys in the case will earn $4 million
— $1 million for each of their firms — while each family of a
policyholder stands to receive about $3,000, on average. “This is
probably the largest single fee of their careers for a civil matter of
this type, yet there remain substantial questions about whether they
have handled this case properly, and whether they should be entitled
to that fee,” said Nutley.
Nutley’s law firm, Kendrick & Nutley, has appeared on behalf of
several heirs of policyholders, and has challenged the adequacy of
notice in the case. In papers filed May 13, 2004, the firm pointed out
several problems with the notices that, by law, the parties must
disseminate in order to notify heirs of the proposed settlement. Among
other things, the filing charges that the notice program was
inadequate because it did not comply with federal law, omitted large
segments of the Armenian community from notice, and failed even to use
the term “Armenian Genocide” in the title and text of the notice. The
Honorable Christina Snyder, the United States District Court Judge who
is in charge of the case, is presently considering that motion.
But in legal documents filed in response to the motion, Geragos, who
is an Armenian-American, defended New York Life’s omission of the term
“Armenian Genocide” from the proposed settlement. Geragos stated that
including the word “Genocide” in the notice would be “confusing” and
“misleading” to class members. Nutley countered that the explanation
does not make sense. “The members of this class-action suit are full
or part Armenian. I’ve yet to meet anyone with a drop of Armenian
blood who didn’t understand the significance of that term. To say that
they would be confused is insulting. On the contrary, it would have
attracted the attention of far more potential class members.”
Judge Snyder will also decide whether to approve the terms of the
proposed settlement itself in a hearing presently set for July 30,
2004. Nutley’s firm filed a formal objection to the settlement, and is
planning to appear at the hearing to urge the court not to approve
it. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, New York Life has
agreed to pay $20 million: $4 million will go to the attorneys; $3
million will go to Armenian charities; between $2 million and $6
million will go to administrative costs; and depending on how much is
spent in administration, between $11 million and $7 million will go
the families of policyholders. If New York Life’s predictions are
accurate, the heirs of the 2,400 actual policyholders will share in
the balance ($7 million) depending on the face value of their original
policy.
Under this scheme, depending on the size of a policyholder’s surviving
family, the value of the policy, and the number of heirs who claim, a
typical heir will receive a little more than a few hundred dollars. By
comparison, Geragos and the other plaintiff lawyers have agreed to
give Martin Marootian, one of the named representative plaintiffs in
the case, $250,000. Nutley said that strongly suggests that the
plaintiff lawyers tried to buy Marootian’s approval of the proposed
settlement. Nutley added that federal case law will not sanction such
a “supersized” award to a named plaintiff, and that Judge Snyder has
already indicated that she is not bound to approve the award of money
to Marootian or the other named plaintiffs.
According to Nutley, the settling parties have not adequately
explained why the amount going to the heirs is so small. After filing
the case, the plaintiffs’ lawyers had claimed that the case was worth
nearly $3 billion in today’s dollars. Nutley said the lawyers should
explain that discrepancy, and have not yet done so. “After 90 years,
and 1.5 million lives lost, is this it for the Armenians? I don’t see
how any Armenian can feel either vindicated by this result or
confident that justice has been done,” said Nutley, who is not
Armenian but whose firm has argued for transparency and accountability
in class actions. “Putting aside the technical, financial and legal
defects in this settlement, this case is also unique in its symbolic
importance to Armenians generally. For them, justice should not just
be done, but be seen to be done.”
For further information, go to or call
626-240-0247.