Tomer Darvish v. Aegis Financial LLC

The lawsuit alleges that Defendant made telephone calls, including to Plaintiff, to mobile telephone numbers or residential landlines between February 4, 2018, and May 15, 2023, with automated or pre-recorded messages in violation of the TCPA. The lawsuit seeks actual and statutory damages under the TCPA on behalf of the named Plaintiff and a purported class of certain individuals in the United States.

Defendant denies each and every allegation of wrongdoing, liability, and damages that were or could have been asserted in the litigation and that the claims in the litigation would be appropriate for class treatment if the litigation were to proceed through trial.

The Plaintiff’s Complaint, Settlement Agreement, and other case-related documents are posted on this Settlement Website. The Settlement resolves the lawsuit. The Court has not decided who is right.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (commonly referred to as the “TCPA”) is a federal law that restricts telephone solicitations and the use of automated telephone equipment.

In a class action, one person called the “Class Representative” (in this case, Plaintiff Tomer Darvish) sues on behalf of himself and other people with similar claims.

All of the people who have claims similar to the Plaintiff are Settlement Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Settlement Class.

The Court has not found in favor of either Plaintiff or Defendant. Instead, both sides have agreed to a settlement. By agreeing to the Settlement, the parties avoid the costs and uncertainty of a trial, and if the Settlement is approved by the Court, Settlement Class Members will receive the benefits described in the Notice. Defendant denies all of the legal claims asserted in this case. Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s lawyers think the proposed Settlement is best for everyone who is affected.

The Settlement includes all persons who received a call and either an automated or pre-recorded message on their mobile phone or residential landline from Defendant between February 4, 2018, and May 15, 2023. Specifically, the Settlement Class is defined as:

All persons in the United States who were called and received an automated or prerecorded voice message from or on behalf of Defendant on their mobile phone or residential landline between February 4, 2018, and May 15, 2023.

Persons meeting this definition are referred to collectively as the “Settlement Class” and, individually, as “Settlement Class Members.”

Excluded from the Settlement Class are: (1) the trial judge presiding over this case; (2) Defendant, as well as any parent, subsidiary, affiliate, or control person of Defendant, and the officers, directors, agents, servants, or employees of Defendant; (3) any of the Released Parties; (4) the immediate family of any of the foregoing person(s) in (1)-(3); (5) any Settlement Class Member who has timely opted out of this proceeding; and (6) Plaintiff’s Counsel, their employees, and their immediate family.

If you are not sure whether you are part of the Settlement Class or have any other questions about the Settlement call the toll-free number, 1-877-540-7536. You also may send questions to the Settlement Administrator at Darvish v. Aegis Financial, LLC Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 3669, Portland, OR 97208-3669.

To fully settle and release claims of the Settlement Class Members, Defendant has agreed to make payments not exceeding the Settlement Cap, as defined herein, to the Settlement Class Members and pay for notice and administration costs of the Settlement, attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred by counsel for the Settlement Class, and a service award for Plaintiff. Defendant will make available up to $2,108,962.00 (the “Settlement Cap”). Each Settlement Class Member who submits a timely, valid, correct and verified Claim Form by the Claim Deadline in the manner required by this Agreement, making all the required affirmations and representations, shall be sent a Claim Settlement Check by the Administrator in an amount not to exceed thirty-eight dollars and no cents ($38.00), or if necessary, their pro rata share of the Settlement Cap of some amount less than $38.00 after payment of notice and administration costs, incentive award, and class counsel’s fees. Settlement Class Claimants will be sent their Claim Settlement Payments to the addresses they submit on their Claim Form within 60 days following the Effective Date.

If you qualify for a payment, you must complete and submit a valid Claim Form. You may download a Claim Form here, or request a Claim Form by calling the Settlement Administrator at the toll-free number below. To be valid, a Claim Form must be completed fully and accurately, signed under penalty of perjury, and submitted timely.

You must submit a Claim Form by U.S. mail or online, and it must be postmarked by April 2, 2024.

The deadline to submit a claim has been extended by the Court, so that any claim form must be postmarked by April 2, 2024. If you submitted a claim form before this deadline was extended, you do NOT need to submit a new claim form. At the Final Approval Hearing on May 2, 2024, the Court will decide wither to approve the Settlement, which will include all valid claims that have been submitted with a postmark on or before April 2, 2024.

Please read the Claim Form carefully and provide all the information required. Only one Claim Form may be submitted per Settlement Class Member.

Payments to Settlement Class Members will be made only after the Court grants Final Approval to the Settlement and after any appeals are resolved (see FAQ 18). If there are appeals, resolving them can take time. Please be patient.

To exclude yourself from the Settlement, you must send a timely letter by mail to:

Darvish v. Aegis Financial, LLC
Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 3669
Portland, OR 97208-3669

Your request to be excluded from the Settlement must be personally signed by you under penalty of perjury and contain a statement that indicates your desire to be “excluded from the Settlement Class” and that, absent of excluding yourself or “opting out,” you are “otherwise a member of the Settlement Class.”

Your exclusion request must be postmarked no later than April 2, 2024. You cannot ask to be excluded on the phone, by email, or on this Settlement Website.

You may opt out of the Settlement Class only for yourself.

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up the right to sue Defendant for the claims that the Settlement resolves. You must exclude yourself from this Settlement Class in order to pursue your own lawsuit.

Unless you opt out of the Settlement, you cannot sue or be part of any other lawsuit against Defendant about the issues in this case, including any existing litigation, arbitration, or proceeding. Unless you exclude yourself, all of the decisions and judgments by the Court will bind you.

The Settlement Agreement is available here. The Settlement Agreement provides more detail regarding the Releases and describes the Released Claims with specific descriptions in necessary, accurate legal terminology, so read it carefully. You can talk to the law firms representing the Settlement Class listed in FAQ 14 for free, or you can, at your own expense, talk to your own lawyer if you have any questions about the Released Claims or what they mean.

No. You will not get a payment from the Settlement Cap if you exclude yourself from the Settlement.

The Court has appointed the following lawyers as “Class Counsel” to represent all members of the Settlement Class.

You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by another lawyer, you may hire one to appear in Court for you at your own expense.

Class Counsel intend to request up to $695,957.00 for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of reasonable, actual out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the litigation, which Defendant agrees to not oppose. The fees and expenses awarded by the Court will be paid from the Settlement Cap. The Court will decide the amount of fees and expenses to award.

Class Counsel will also request that a Service Award of $2,500.00 be paid from the Settlement Cap to the Class Representative for his service as representative on behalf of the whole Settlement Class.

If you are a Settlement Class Member (and do not exclude yourself from the Settlement Class), you can object to any part of the Settlement. To object, you must timely submit a letter that includes the following:

1. A heading that includes the case name and case number— Tomer Darvish v. Aegis Financial, LLC, Case No. 2023CH000015;
2. Your name, address, telephone number, the mobile telephone or residential landline phone number at which you received a pre-recorded call and/or automated message from Defendant and if represented by counsel, the name, bar number, address, and telephone number of your counsel;
3. A signed statement stating, under penalty of perjury, that you received one or more pre-recorded calls and/or automated messages from Defendant and are a member of the Settlement Class;
4. A statement of all your objections to the Settlement including your legal and factual basis for each objection;
5. The number of times in which you have objected to a class action settlement within the five years preceding the date that you file the objection, the caption of each case in which you have made such an objection, and a copy of any orders related to or ruling upon the prior such objections that were issued by the trial and appellate courts in each listed case;
6. The identity of all counsel who represent you, including any former or current counsel who may be entitled to compensation for any reason related to the objection to the Settlement or Fee Application;
7. The number of times in which your counsel and/or counsel’s law firm have objected to a class action settlement within the five years preceding the date that you file the objection, the caption of each case in which counsel or the firm has made such objection, and a copy of any orders related to or ruling upon counsel’s or the firm’s prior objections that were issued by the trial and appellate courts in each listed case;
8. Any and all agreements that relate to the objection or the process of objecting— whether written or oral—between objector or objector’s counsel and any other person or entity;
9. A statement of whether you intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing, either with or without counsel, and if with counsel, the name of your counsel who will attend;
10. A list of all persons who will be called to testify at the Final Approval Hearing in support of the objection; and
11. Your signature (an attorney’s signature is not sufficient).

If you wish to object, you must file your objection with the Court (using the Court’s electronic filing system or in any manner in which the Court accepts filings) and mail your objection to each of the following three (3) addresses, and your objection must be postmarked by April 2, 2024:

Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like something about the Settlement. You can object to the Settlement only if you do not exclude yourself. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Settlement. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object to the Settlement because it no longer affects you.

The Court has scheduled a Final Approval Hearing on May 2, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. via video conference. The hearing may be moved to a different date or time without additional notice, so it is a good idea to check this website for updates. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. The Court will also consider the requests by Class Counsel for attorneys’ fees and expenses and for a Service Award to the Class Representative. If there are objections, the Court will consider them at that time. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement. It is unknown how long these decisions will take.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. But, you are welcome to attend the hearing at your own expense. If you send an objection, you do not have to come to Court to talk about it. As long as you submitted your written objection on time to the proper addresses and it complies with all the other requirements set forth above, the Court will consider it. You may also pay your own lawyer to attend the hearing, but it is not necessary.

You may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Final Approval Hearing. To do so, your timely filed objection must include a statement of whether you intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing which shall be held via video conference on May 2, 2024, at 9:00 a.m.

You cannot speak at the hearing if you exclude yourself from the Settlement.

If you are a Settlement Class member and do nothing, meaning you do not file a timely Claim, you will not get benefits from the Settlement. Further, unless you exclude yourself, you will be bound by the judgment entered by the Court.

This website and the Notice summarize the proposed Settlement. You are urged to review more details in the Settlement Agreement. For a complete, definitive statement of the Settlement terms, refer to the Settlement Agreement here. You also may write with questions to the Settlement Administrator at Darvish v. Aegis Financial, LLC Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 3669, Portland, OR 97208-3669 or call the toll-free number, 1-877-540-7536.