American Dental Association/Wisconsin Dental Association members may be receiving correspondence from a company called Settlement Recovery Group (SRG), which is apparently offering to assist our members in facilitating their participation in the forthcoming settlement of the class action against Patterson, Benco and Henry Schein.
This is nationwide class action lawsuit for which the settlement is expected to cover 140,000 dentists. Once the settlement is finalized, which should be fairly soon a notice will go out to those dentists who are known to be part of the class.
While we are not specifically familiar with SRG, the ADA is aware that other entities in the past have engaged in similar activities purporting to assist in locating persons entitled to recovery and to help class members develop their individual damages proofs in instances where such submissions are required. It would therefore appear to us (though others should certainly formulate their own conclusions) that the services offered by his company are in this instance unnecessary and of little or no value to our members.
We have been in contact with the attorneys for the plaintiff class in the dental supplier litigation and have been advised that, once the settlement has been approved, known class members will receive a notice directly from the plaintiffs’ attorneys. To the extent there may be additional class members, the attorneys will make every reasonable effort, including perhaps seeking the assistance of the ADA, to locate everyone who might be included. Once this is done, we believe all class members will be instructed as to how to calculate any possible recovery without the assistance of a third-party intermediary.
Each member may, of course, make his or her own decision as to whether to utilize the services of SRG or other such organizations, but we would question the need for such services in this particular instance.
This is a fine example of how advance knowledge the is helping all of our WDA members. Thank You!!