Kolici v. Montway LLC

A court authorized Class Notice because you have a right to know about a proposed Settlement of a class action lawsuit titled Kolici v. Montway LLC in the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, and about all of your options before the Court decides whether to give Final Approval to the Settlement. This Website explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, and your legal rights.

Hon. Michael A. Hanzman, a Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida is overseeing this case. The person who sued, Endrit Kolici, is called the “Plaintiff.” Montway LLC is called the “Defendant”.

The lawsuit alleges that Defendant made artificial or prerecorded calls to telephone numbers without prior express written consent in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act 47 U.S.C. § 227, and seeks actual and statutory damages under the TCPA on behalf of the named Plaintiff and a class of all 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 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 certain types of automated, artificial voice, and prerecorded voice calls without prior express consent.

In a class action, one person called the “Class Representative” (in this case, Plaintiff) sues on behalf of themself 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 class, among others.

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 Claimants will receive the benefits described in this Website. Defendant denies all legal claims in this case. Plaintiff and his lawyers think the proposed Settlement is best for everyone who is affected.

The Settlement includes all persons who received a call on their phone from Defendant. Specifically, the Settlement Class is defined as:

All persons within the United States who, within the four years prior to July 16, 2021 and through August 3, 2021, were called regarding Defendant’s property, goods, and/or services after submitting a request for a quote or order for transportation services.

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

The Settlement Class excludes the following: (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 such person(s); 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 in the Settlement Class or have any other questions about the Settlement, call the toll-free number, 1-877-959-5515. You also may send questions to the Administrator at Kolici v. Montway LLC TCPA Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 4249 Portland, OR 97208-4249.

To fully settle and release the claims of the Settlement Class Members including all claims for relief, whether known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, that arise out of, concern or relate to the TCPA and other related state laws regarding telemarketing and/or the use of an automatic telephone dialing system or prerecorded voice to make calls, Defendant has agreed to make $1,450,000.00 (the “Settlement Fund”) available for claims by the Settlement Class Members. The Settlement Fund will also be used to pay for notice and administration costs of the Settlement, attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred by counsel for the Settlement Class, and service award for Plaintiff. Each Settlement Class Member who submits a timely, complete, and verified Claim Form by the Claim Deadline in the manner required by the Settlement Agreement, shall be sent a Claim Settlement Check or digital payment by the Administrator equal to their pro rata share of any funds available from the Settlement Fund (up to $500 per Settlement Class Claimant) after all Attorneys’ Fees and expenses, all Notice and Administration Costs, and any Service Award have been paid. Settlement Class Claimants will be sent their Claim Settlement Payments to the address they submitted on their Claim Form within 60 days following the Effective Date. Any funds remaining in the Settlement Fund after all Claim Settlement Payments, Notice and Administrative Costs, Attorneys fees and Service Award have been paid from the Settlement Fund will go to the Court approved Cy Pres Recipient.

If you qualify, you must complete and submit a valid Claim Form to receive a payment. You may submit or download a Claim Form on this website, or request a Claim Form by calling the Administrator at the toll-free number found on the Contact page of this website, here. To be valid, a Claim Form must be completed fully and accurately and submitted timely. One claim is allowed per Settlement Class Member.

You must submit a Claim Form by U.S. mail or through this website here, and it must be postmarked by February 18, 2023.

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

Payments in the form of a check or digital payment 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 19 below). If you select digital payment, please ensure you provide a current, valid email address with your Claim submission. If the email address becomes invalid for any reason, it is your responsibility to provide accurate contact information to the Administrator to receive a payment. If there are appeals, resolving them can take time. Please be patient.

If you do not want benefits from the Settlement, and you want to keep the right to sue or continue to sue Defendant on your own about the legal issues in this case, then you must take steps to get out of the Settlement. This is called excluding yourself—or it is sometimes referred to as “opting out” of the Settlement Class.

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

Kolici v. Montway LLC
TCPA Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 4249
Portland, OR 97208-4249

Your request to be excluded from the Settlement must be personally signed by you under penalty of perjury and must (a) identify the case name; (b) identify your name, address and telephone number; (c) identify the cellular telephone number at which you received a call, text or voicemail from Defendant; and (d) contain a statement that indicates your desire to be “excluded from the Settlement Class” and that, absent excluding yourself or “opting out,” you are “otherwise a member of the Settlement Class.”

Your exclusion request must be postmarked no later than January 13, 2023. You cannot ask to be excluded on the phone, by email, or at the 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 and the clams released 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 on this website. 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 15 at no charge to you, 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 Fund 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 33.3% of the Settlement Fund for attorneys’ fees and reasonable, actual out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the litigation. The fees and expenses awarded by the Court will be paid out of the Settlement Fund. The Court will decide the amount of fees and expenses to award.

Class Counsel will also request a Service Award of $7,500 for Plaintiff for his service as Class Representative on behalf of the whole Settlement Class. Any Service Award will be paid out of the Settlement Fund.

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—Kolici v. Montway LLC, Case No. 2022-CA-015957;
2. Your name, address, telephone number, the cell phone number at which you received a call 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 calls 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. 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;
6. 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;
7. A list of all persons who will be called to testify at the Final Approval Hearing in support of the objection; and
8. Any and all agreements that relate to the objection or the process of objecting—whether written or verbal—between you or your counsel and any other person or entity.

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 four (4) addresses, and your objection must be postmarked by January 13, 2023.

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 will hold a hearing to decide whether to approve the Settlement and any requests for fees and expenses (“Final Approval Hearing”).

The Court has scheduled a Final Approval Hearing on February 3, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. in Room 416 at the Miami-Dade County Courthouse, 73 West Flagler Street, Miami, Florida 33130. 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 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 submit 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 (see FAQ 17 above).

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 summarizes 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 found on the Important Documents page of this website, here. You also may write with questions to the Administrator at Kolici v. Montway LLC TCPA Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 4249, Portland, OR 97208-4249, or call the toll-free number, 1-877-959-5515.