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Jennifer Case and Willie Morris v. Ameritech Services, Inc. |
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Class Counsel |
DO NOT WRITE TO THE COURT FOR INFORMATION.
This case is currently pending before The Circuit Court of Cook
County, Chancery Division RM 2508 Daley Center 50 W. Washington,
Chicago IL 60602. The docket number for the case is 02 CH 19210.
Judge Patrick McGann is the Judge.
The Plaintiffs here allege that SBC Ameritech violated state consumer
protection laws with regard to their theft of identity procedures and
procedures for exonerating consumers who may have had accounts open
due to theft of identities. To see a copy of the full lawsuit,
click here.
SBC Ameritech has denied all of Plaintiffs’ claims, but has chosen to
enter into a settlement to resolve the case. SBC Ameritech expressly
denies all allegations of wrongdoing and contends that its identity
theft, exoneration, new account, and collection procedures all were
fair and reasonable. The Settlement does not constitute an admission
of any wrongdoing. To see a copy of the settlement,
click here.
The Court has therefore certified a Class and approved a settlement
for the benefit of that Class. To see a copy of the order,
click here.
The links below provide information about who is a Class Member, the
terms of the settlement, and how Class Members can object to, or
decide not to participate in (opt out of), the settlement.
All Potential Class Members:
To find out if you are a Member of the settlement class,
click here.
If you do want to participate in the settlement class, you are required
to complete and mail the Theft of Identity Affidavit Claim Form available
for download here.
The form must be submitted on or before March 15, 2006.
If you do not want to participate in the settlement class or
want to object to the settlement you should click here.
To see a copy of the most current complaint, click here.
To see a copy of the settlement agreement preliminarily approved by the Court, click here.
To see a copy of the Court’s order preliminarily approving the settlement agreement and this settlement, click here.
Class members include all present and former customers of SBC
Ameritech, who according to Defendant’s records, and the records of
Defendant’s third party collection agents, meet the following
criteria: (1) the consumer had a telephone services account opened
with SBC Ameritech in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana or Wisconsin,
(2) SBC Ameritech opened a second account in that consumer’s name, (3)
the consumer had not given authorization for the opening of that
second account, and (4) SBC Ameritech submitted the second account to
a third party collection agency for collection action from the original
consumer, who did not timely opt out of this settlement or was
otherwise excluded from this settlement.
If you DO NOT object to the terms of the settlement, but just
do NOT want to participate in the class action, in which case
you will not be bound to the settlement or share in any benefit, you
must tell us in writing by sending us a letter which states that "I am
opting out of the Ameritech settlement in the Case v. Ameritech case
and do not want to participate. I will not share in the settlement."
to Lance A. Raphael, The Consumer Advocacy Center, P.C., 180 West
Washington, Suite 700, Chicago, IL 60602, and Leslie M. Smith,
Kirkland & Ellis LLP, 200 E. Randolph, Chicago, IL 60601, which must
be received by October 31, 2005. You must provide your
full name and address.
If you DO object to the terms of the settlement, you
must submit your objection in writing to the Clerk of the Court,
Daley Center, Room 801, Chicago, IL 60602. The objection must be
received by the Clerk of the Court on or before October 31, 2005.
You must also serve copies of the objection on Lance A. Raphael,
The Consumer Advocacy Center, P.C., 180 West Washington, Suite 700,
Chicago, IL 60602, and Leslie M. Smith, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, 200 E.
Randolph, Chicago, IL 60601, by the same date.
Any objection must include the name and number of your SBC Ameritech
account and a statement of the reasons (in no more than 15 pages)
why you believe that the Court should find that the proposed settlement
is not in the best interests of the class. If you do file an
objection and wish it to be considered, you must also appear at the
hearing before Judge McGann on November 21, 2005. Please note that
it is not sufficient to simply say that you object. You must state
specific reasons why the settlement should not be approved. THE COURT
REQUIRES THAT ANY OBJECTIONS BE RECEIVED BY THE CLERK OF THE COURT BY
OCTOBER 31, 2005.
