As a Settlement Class Member, you are represented by Plaintiffs and Lead Counsel, unless you enter an appearance through counsel of your own choice at your own expense. You are not required to retain your own counsel, but if you choose to do so, such counsel must file a notice of appearance on your behalf and must serve copies of his or her appearance on the attorneys listed in the section entitled, “When And Where Will The Court Decide Whether To Approve The Settlement?,” on page 25 of the Notice.
If you are a Settlement Class Member and do not wish to remain a Settlement Class Member, you could have excluded yourself from the Settlement Class by following the instructions in the section entitled “What If I Do Not Want To Be A Member Of The Settlement Class? How Do I Exclude Myself?” on page 24 of the Notice. The deadline to file for exclusion has passed.
If you are a Settlement Class Member and you wish to object to the Settlement, the Plan of Allocation, or Lead Counsel’s application for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of Litigation Expenses, and if you did not exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you could have presented your objections by following the instructions in the section entitled, “When And Where Will The Court Decide Whether To Approve The Settlement?,” below. The deadline to file an objection has passed.
If you are a Settlement Class Member and you did not exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you will be bound by any orders issued by the Court. The Court has approved the Settlement and the Court has entered a judgment (the “Judgment”). The Judgment will dismiss with prejudice the claims against Defendants and will provide that, upon the Effective Date of the Settlement, Plaintiffs and each of the other Settlement Class Members, on behalf of themselves, and their respective heirs, executors, administrators, predecessors, successors, and assigns in their capacities as such, will have fully, finally and forever compromised, settled, released, resolved, relinquished, waived and discharged each and every Released Plaintiffs’ Claim (as defined in ¶ 38 of the Notice) against the Defendants and the other Defendants’ Releasees (as defined in ¶ 39 of the Notice), and shall forever be barred and enjoined from prosecuting any or all of the Released Plaintiffs’ Claims against any of the Defendants’ Releasees.
“Released Plaintiffs’ Claims” means all claims, rights, demands, suits, liabilities, or causes of action, in law or in equity, accrued or unaccrued, fixed or contingent, direct, individual or representative, of every nature and description whatsoever, under federal, state, local, foreign law, or any other law, rule, or regulation, whether known or Unknown Claims, whether class or individual in nature, that (i) were asserted in the SAC, or (ii) could have been, or could in the future be, asserted against Defendants in any court of competent jurisdiction or any other adjudicatory tribunal, in connection with, arising out of, related to, based upon, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, or in any way involving, the facts, transactions, events, occurrences, acts, disclosures, oral or written statements, representations, filings, publications, disseminations, press releases, presentations, accounting practices or procedures, omissions or failures to act which were alleged or described in the SAC, and arise out of the purchase, acquisition, sale and/or holding of LSB Securities during the Settlement Class Period, including any claims for breach of fiduciary duty. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this release does not include (i) any claims filed by a shareholder who made a valid demand and/or filed a derivative suit prior to the date this Settlement Agreement was executed; and (ii) any claims relating to the enforcement of the Settlement or any claims of any person or entity who or which submitted a request for exclusion from the Settlement Class that was accepted by the Court.
“Defendants’ Releasees” means Defendants and their current and former officers, directors, agents, parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, successors, predecessors, assigns, assignees, employees, insurance companies, and attorneys, in their capacities as such.
“Unknown Claims” means any Released Plaintiffs’ Claims which Plaintiffs or any other Settlement Class Member does not know or suspect to exist in his, her or its favor at the time of the release of such claims, and any Released Defendants’ Claims which any Defendant or any other Defendants’ Releasee does not know or suspect to exist in his, her, or its favor at the time of the release of such claims, which, if known by him, her or it, might have affected his, her or its decision(s) with respect to this Settlement. With respect to any and all Released Claims, the Parties stipulate and agree that, upon the Effective Date of the Settlement, Plaintiffs and Defendants shall expressly waive, and each of the other Settlement Class Members and each of the other Defendants’ Releasees shall be deemed to have waived, and by operation of the Judgment or the Alternate Judgment, if applicable, shall have expressly waived, any and all provisions, rights, and benefits conferred by any law of any state or territory of the United States, or principle of common law or foreign law, which is similar, comparable, or equivalent to California Civil Code §1542, which provides:
A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him or her must have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor.
Plaintiffs and Defendants acknowledge, and each of the other Settlement Class Members and each of the other Defendants’ Releasees shall be deemed by operation of law to have acknowledged, that the foregoing waiver was separately bargained for and a key element of the Settlement.
The Judgment will also provide that, upon the Effective Date of the Settlement, Defendants, on behalf of themselves, and their respective heirs, executors, administrators, predecessors, successors, and assigns in their capacities as such, will have fully, finally and forever compromised, settled, released, resolved, relinquished, waived and discharged each and every Released Defendants’ Claim (as defined in ¶ 42 of the Notice) against Plaintiffs and the other Plaintiffs’ Releasees (as defined in ¶ 43 of the Notice), and shall forever be barred and enjoined from prosecuting any or all of the Released Defendants’ Claims against any of the Plaintiffs’ Releasees.
“Released Defendants’ Claims” means all claims and causes of action of every nature and description, whether known or Unknown Claims, whether arising under federal, state, common or foreign law, that arise out of or relate in any way to the institution, prosecution, or settlement of the claims against the Defendants. This release does not include any claims relating to the enforcement of the Settlement or any claims against any person or entity who or which submitted a request for exclusion from the Settlement Class that was accepted by the Court.
“Plaintiffs’ Releasees” means Plaintiffs, all other plaintiffs in the Action, their respective attorneys, and all other Settlement Class Members, and their respective current and former officers, directors, agents, parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, successors, predecessors, assigns, assignees, employees, and attorneys, in their capacities as such.