Unless you exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, if the Settlement is approved, you will be a Participating Class Member. As a Participating Class Member, you will receive any portion of the Net Settlement Fund allocated to you and will be bound by all orders and judgments entered by the Court regarding the Settlement. If the Settlement is approved, you will not be able to sue, continue to sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against any of the Released Parties concerning any of the Released Claims.
Release
If the Court enters a final order approving the Settlement, all Class Members, on behalf of the “Releasing Parties,” will release any “Released Claims” they have or may have against the “Released Parties.” This means that if you remain a member of the Settlement Class, any and all claims related to underpaid and unpaid interest for oil or gas proceeds during the Claim Period will be released and discharged.
“Claim Period” means July 1, 1992, through March 31, 2021.
“Released Claims” means any and all claims and damages that were asserted in the Litigation or which could have been asserted in the Litigation relating to the transactions and occurrences which were the subject of the Litigation, including without limitation all claims (a) relating to payments of Oklahoma Proceeds made during the Claim Period (whether arising under oil and gas leases, pooling orders, unitization orders, and/or other agreements, and including royalty interests, overriding royalty interests, working interests, and/or any other type of interest) expressly including, Late Payments, suspended proceeds and unclaimed proceeds paid to various States; (b) for injuries, damages and/or PRSA or other statutory interest or remedies related to or arising from: (i) Late Payments of Oklahoma Proceeds to Class Members or any of their predecessors, successors, or assigns, during the Claim Period, (ii) Oklahoma Proceeds held in suspense by Defendant during the Claim Period, or (iii) Oklahoma Proceeds paid to various States during the Claim Period as unclaimed property, where such payments or suspended proceeds described above did not include the correct amount of interest under the PRSA or any other applicable statute or regulation, (c) that a Participating Class Member has or may have or be entitled to under the PRSA, and (d) for breach of duty to investigate and pay, fraud, deceit, constructive fraud, accounting, disgorgement, and injunctive relief. Released Claims includes those claims relating to such payments or holding of proceeds in suspense by Defendant, regardless of whether Defendant paid or held such funds on its own account or on account of third parties, but only as to statutory interest that was earned, accrued or became due during the time Defendant held such proceeds or at the time Defendant paid such suspended proceeds to a successor-in-interest. Released Claims do not include claims for statutory interest which accrue on suspended proceeds after the contractual date/time of Defendant’s transfer of the suspended proceeds to a successor-in-interest, i.e., for statutory interest which accrues on the suspended proceeds for the time period that the successor-in-interest holds such proceeds. As used in this paragraph, “claims” include without limitation any assertion, allegation, claim, demand, right, debt, request for payment, cause of action, liability, loss, damage (including without limitation incidental, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages), deficiency, remedy, judgment, lien, injunction, penalty, cost, expense, attorney fee, interest, suit, or proceeding of every kind, at law or in equity, in contract or tort, regardless of whether any of the foregoing are asserted or unasserted, now known or hereinafter discovered, matured or unmatured, or accrued, contingent, or potential, and regardless of whether any of the foregoing have resulted now or could result in the future in the commencement of a lawsuit, filing of a claim, or legal proceeding of whatsoever kind, and regardless of whether any of the foregoing have resulted now or could result in the future in a final and appealable order, ruling, or judgment. The release of Released Claims will be effective as against a Releasing Party without regard to whether a Releasing Party actually received a payment from the Net Settlement Fund and without regard to whether any payment received was correctly determined.
Certain of the Released Claims may have already been released or precluded by the Cecil Judgment as noted in the Judgment and in the Settlement Agreement. This Judgment fully and finally releases all of the Released Claims regardless of whether or not such claims were or were not included in the Cecil Judgment.
“Released Parties” means Defendant, its parent, affiliated, and subsidiary companies, and each of their respective former and present officers, directors, shareholders, members, managers, owners, partners, employees, agents, servants, attorneys, insurers, predecessors, successors, and assigns. Defendant’s affiliated companies include but are not limited to the entities listed on the Settlement Agreement Exhibit 6.
“Releasing Parties” means Plaintiffs and all Participating Class Members and their heirs, successors and assigns, without regard to whether a Participating Class Member actually received a payment from the Net Settlement Fund, and without regard as to whether any payment was correctly determined.