The Court, on December 13, 2011, granted preliminary approval of a settlement reached with defendant National Arbitration Forum, Inc. ("NAF"). The Court, on July 26, 2010, also entered Final Judgment for settlements reached with four of the seven defendants in this case.

Please review the information on this website concerning the proposed settlement with NAF and important deadlines regarding that settlement, including the March 16, 2012 deadline for filing objections. Please note that because the settlement involves the NAF changing its conduct toward the banks' cardholders, there is no opportunity to be excluded from the proposed settlement with NAF.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is this lawsuit about?(top)

This lawsuit involves claims that the settling defendants Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, HSBC and the National Arbitration Forum, Inc. ("NAF") and the non-settling defendants Citibank and Discover violated federal law by conspiring, with each other and certain non-defendants, to require that their cardholders (a) take all legal disputes to arbitration rather than court and (b) give up any right to participate in class actions against the above six credit card companies. This case is on behalf of cardholders who are subject to arbitration clauses. Cardholders who are not subject to arbitration clauses, including any Discover cardholders who have opted out of arbitration, are not included in the case.

On July 26, 2010, the Court entered Final Judgment for settlements reached with Bank of America, Capital One, Chase and HSBC. On December 13, 2011, the Court preliminarily approved a settlement reached with NAF. The case is still pending against defendants Citibank and Discover.

Arbitration is a type of dispute resolution, where the parties agree that private arbitrators, rather than judges in court, will decide their disputes. Class actions are a type of court proceeding where representative individuals, who must be approved by the court, bring a lawsuit on behalf of a class of similarly situated people or businesses.

This lawsuit alleges that defendants colluded with each other to adopt and invoke arbitration clauses to prevent consumers from enforcing their rights under state and federal law, both individually and in class actions. This lawsuit seeks to change the defendants' conduct with respect to arbitration clauses and class action bans. This lawsuit never sought money damages for cardholders. This lawsuit also seeks plaintiffs' attorneys' fees and reimbursement of their litigation expenses.

This website is intended to provide information responsive to most questions. Details are provided below regarding who you should contact if you have questions about this case which are not answered here. Please do not contact the Court, the settling or non-settling defendants, or your bank with questions about this case which are not answered here.
What is the status of this litigation?(top)

The information below is subject to change. Please check back for updated information.

On December 13, 2011, the Court preliminarily approved a settlement with defendant National Arbitration Forum, Inc. ("NAF"). This is the fifth settlement reached in this matter. On July 26, 2010, the Court entered Final Judgment approving the settlements with defendants Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, and HSBC. The case is still pending against defendants Citibank and Discover.

A hearing to finally approve the settlement with NAF is scheduled to take place before the Hon. William H. Pauley, III on April 27, 2012 at 12:00 noon eastern at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street, New York, N.Y., 10007.

If you wish to file an objection to the settlement with NAF, you must file your written objection and proof of class membership with the Court (please send your objection to U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street, New York, N.Y., 10007), and you should send a copy of your objection to class counsel (you may send your objection to Merrill G. Davidoff, Berger & Montague, P.C., 1622 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103). You do not have to go to Court or hire an attorney, but you can at your expense. The deadline for objecting is March 16, 2012. (For clarity, you may not file an objection concerning the settlements reached with Bank of America, Capital One, Chase and HSBC because the Court granted final approval of those settlements and a Final Judgment as to those four banks was entered on July 26, 2010.)

The plaintiffs' papers supporting the settlement will be filed on March 2, 2012 and will be available at www.arbitration.ccfsettlement.com within 2 business days thereafter.
Who are the defendants?(top)

The defendants are: Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Discover, HSBC and the National Arbitration Forum, as well as certain affiliated and predecessor companies.
What is the defendants’ position in the lawsuit?(top)

All settling defendants and all non-settling defendants deny that they conspired with each other or that they violated any law, and assert that they have done nothing wrong or improper.
Who is affected by this settlement?(top)

Any individual, small business, or agency holding a consumer or small business credit card issued by Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Discover or HSBC. Cardholders who are not subject to arbitration clauses, including any Discover cardholders who have opted out of arbitration, are not included in the case.
What is the NAF settlement?(top)

The settlement reached with NAF requires that NAF cease administering or processing any new credit card arbitrations of disputes involving business cards for a period of 3-1/2 years. This relief compliments the relief previously obtained by the Minnesota Attorney General precluding NAF from administering or processing any consumer credit card arbitrations. The settlement also requires NAF, subject to Court review, to pay $125,000 to defray attorneys' fees and litigation expenses, including the cost of this notice.

For reference, the prior settlement agreements reached with the four settling defendants Bank of America, Capital One, Chase and HSBC are now final and the Court entered Final Judgment as to these defendants on July 26, 2010. These settlement agreements require that these defendants cease enforcing arbitration clauses and class action bans against their consumer and small business credit card cardholders and that they remove arbitration clauses and class action bans from the terms they require of their cardholders for a period of 3-1/2 years. These four settling defendants also paid $2.35 million to defray attorneys' fees and litigation expenses, including the cost of notice to the class.
What will happen if the settlement with NAF is approved?(top)

If approved, the NAF settlement will bind you. It releases the settling defendant, NAF, from all liability stemming from the adoption or inclusion of the arbitration clauses and class action bans in the terms the defendant banks require of their consumer and small business credit card cardholders.

The NAF is NOT being released from any claim for money damages that may allegedly arise from the invocation or enforcement of the defendant banks' arbitration clauses and class action bans. For more detailed information about the settlement with NAF, please review the NAF Memorandum of Settlement entered into with NAF.
What will not be settled?(top)

The case will remain pending against the two non-settling defendants Citibank and Discover.
Do I need to hire a lawyer?(top)

The Court has appointed four law firms as counsel to the class: Berger & Montague, P.C., Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP (this law firm has since changed its name to Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP), Hulett Harper Stuart LLP, and Scott + Scott LLP. If you would like to contact a lawyer who represents the class members, you may contact:
Merrill G. Davidoff
Berger & Montague, P.C.
1622 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
You do not have to hire your own lawyer. But you can if you want to, at your own cost.
How can I get a copy of the notice of the NAF settlement?(top)

You may obtain a copy of the NAF settlement notice by clicking on the following link Notice or by calling 1-800-645-4393.
Can I exclude myself from the settlement?(top)

No, you cannot exclude yourself from the settlement because the relief involves the settling defendants changing their conduct towards you and all other class members. In this type of class action, which is often referred to as a Rule 23(b)(2) class, class members do not have the option to opt out or exclude themselves from the class.
How can I object to the settlement?(top)

If you agree with the settlement, you do not need to do anything. If you disagree with the settlement or the payment of attorneys' fees, you may object to either. You must file your written objection and proof of class membership with the Court (please send your objection to U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street, New York, N.Y., 10007), and you should send a copy of your objection to class counsel (you may send your objection to Merrill G. Davidoff, Berger & Montague, P.C., 1622 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103). You do not have to go to Court or hire an attorney, but you can at your expense. The deadline for objecting is March 16, 2012. The plaintiffs' papers supporting the settlement will be filed on March 2, 2012 and will be available at www.arbitration.ccfsettlement.com within 2 business days thereafter.
When will the court consider approving the settlement?(top)

A hearing to finally approve the settlement is scheduled to take place before the Hon. William H. Pauley, III on April 27, 2012 at 12:00 noon eastern at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street, New York, N.Y., 10007.
How will the attorneys be paid?(top)

NAF has agreed to pay a total of $125,000 in attorneys' fees and litigation expenses, including the cost of publishing and distributing the NAF settlement notice. Neither you nor any class member is responsible for paying these fees and expenses, which will be paid by NAF. Plaintiffs' counsel will ask the Court to approve reimbursement to them of litigation expenses and payment of the remainder as attorneys' fees. The relief to you and the class is not being reduced as a result of this payment. Plaintiffs' attorneys' fees at their regular hourly rates substantially exceed any reimbursement that may occur as a result of these settlements.

For reference, under the prior settlement agreements, settling defendants Bank of America, Capital One, Chase and HSBC agreed to pay a total of $2.35 million in attorneys' fees and litigation expenses, including the cost of publishing and distributing this notice. Specifically, Bank of America paid $600,000; Capital One, $650,000; Chase, $700,000; and HSBC, $400,000. The Court entered Final Judgment on these settlements on July 26, 2010.
How can I get more information?(top)

To see the NAF Memorandum of Settlement, the Settlement Agreements with the four settling defendants, Court orders, and other documents about this lawsuit and related cases, click on the following link: www.arbitration.ccfsettlement.com. Or call 1-800-645-4393.

You can also go to the Clerk of the Court's office for U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York during regular business hours to see court documents. The Courthouse address is: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street, New York, New York 10007-1581.

Or mail your questions to the following attorneys for the class:
Merrill G. Davidoff
Berger & Montague, P.C.
1622 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Please do NOT contact the Court, the settling or non-settling defendants, or your bank with questions about this case.

Contact us for more information about this page.

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