AMC: Notice, Deadlines, Depositions, and More

It's the case that never rests...and some of us just want to go home.

Let’s be honest — no one really thought that the holiday weekend was going to be a holiday weekend free from the AMC case, did they?

Trust that I wasn’t deluded enough to think so. The Special Master and the Court were both busy — the Special Master with a Report and Recommendation and the Court putting out an Order on Exceptions that both hit the docket early on Tuesday.

This case hasn’t taken a moment to slow down over the past month since the settlement was filed, despite the fact that the noticing of a settlement usually means the gradual wind-down of the case — this one has done nothing but accelerate. Speaking of its accelerating energy, that’s what we’re here to talk about tonight, but let’s get some logistics out of the way first, shall we?

The most proximate issue at this moment is that the settlement, which has been briefed by Plaintiff and Defendant since May 4th, has the objections period closing today, May 31st (at least by last account).

I know some people are still concerned about not having received postcard notice yet, but the USPS being what it is, let me assuage your concerns.

Here’s what the postcard looks like:

All the postcard does is the same thing that the Twitter notice —

and the 8-K notice and the publication notice did, which is to direct you to do this round-about internet dance that I thoroughly danced for you previously, so let me save you the hassle.

Here are the documents you are looking for, which the postcard is intended to guide you toward:

Notice of Pendency of Stockholder Class Action and Proposed Settlement

Letter to Stockholders from the Court (revised)

In-Person Appearance Form (Must be Received by May 31, 2023)

Plaintiffs’ Opening Brief in Support of the Settlement

Defendant’s Opening Brief in Support of the Settlement

Stipulation and Agreement of Compromise, Settlement and Release

Unredacted Operative Complaint

The main issue — if you are just now receiving your first word about the possibility of objecting or supporting the settlement, given that such things are currently due today — is that the In-Person Appearance Form (Must be Received by May 31, 2023) had to be received by the Court today.

If you are bound and determined to appear in Court and be heard at the hearing, I would have arranged with a delivery service to hand-deliver a copy of your form to the court today. But, perhaps more importantly, pursuant to the Letter to Stockholders from the Court (revised), remember that you do not need to appear in person to have your objection fully considered by the Court. As for your objection (or support — although the latter is not as useful, given that both parties are already arguing in support of the settlement), it can be submitted preferably via email before midnight, per the instructions in the same Letter to Stockholders from the Court (revised).

I have always promised you a couple of things. First, that I have no position in this matter (or any other that I cover), and that I have no stake in the outcome. I am not an “AMC” person or an “APE” person. I was in this Court long before this case was, and I will be here long after it is gone. I am not in this family feud, and I don’t want to be dragged into the middle of it.

I’m constantly reluctant to give my perspective on this case, because there are so many hyped up personalities on every side of it that no matter how much I couch my language, or how gently I phrase my objective conclusions as to the law and the facts, I inevitably wake up to some lovely messages containing unrepeatable expletives and literally insane attacks on my personal character. It’s not pleasant, but presumably it’s something that I somehow signed up for by choosing to do this work publicly.

I suppose you could say the same thing about someone who chose to become a class representative in a class action lawsuit, but I have concerns about this trend in our culture generally, and it is perhaps for that reason that I find myself having sympathy in this latest situation with plaintiff Usbaldo Munoz. And I know that many of you probably won’t like what I have to say about this, and so the cycle continues, but I’m going to tell you what I think anyway, because that’s what I’m here to do, to provide you with the facts and the law, to try to see and reveal my own biases, and to share with you what I think about the case.

So, here goes…