Notice: AllCare Class Actions Dismissed by Spangenberg Shibley & Liber
(PRWEB) July 02, 2014 -- Notice: AllCare Dental Class Actions Dismissed
The Allcare Dental corporate defendants initiated bankruptcy proceedings in Western District of New York (Buffalo), Bankruptcy Petition #: 1-11-13848-CLB.[1] Those proceedings terminated in 2013 with a report of no distribution. The Plaintiffs do not believe there are recoverable corporate funds for unsecured creditors based on the no distribution finding, and are therefore dismissing their claims.
Allcare Dental Class Action Dismissals
Plaintiffs in Ellen Jones et al. v. Allcare Dental Management, L.L.C. et al., Western District of New York Civ. No. 11-cv-0112-WMS, and James Crowl et al. v. Allcare Dental and Dentures of Ohio-Bates et al., Northern District of Ohio No. 4:11cv105, dismissed their class action claims on June 5, 2014 and June 4, 2014, respectively. As such, any statute of limitations for claims of putative class members may be running as of the date of dismissal.
Was My Claim Part of the Now-Dismissed Class Actions?
There was no “Class Certification” (a finding by a court that the named plaintiffs who filed the lawsuits are representing a defined class of individuals), and as such, no class definition was established. Some courts have held that claims falling under a proposed class action are tolled—the statute of limitations is held—until the claims are dismissed, even without class certification. If you have a claim falling under the proposed classes, the statute of limitations for that potential claim may have been tolled until the dismissal of the class actions.
Plaintiffs in the New York class action sought to represent classes as follows:
a) All persons in the United States who have made payments to Allcare for dental services, products, and/or warranties that have not been rendered or provided (“National Class”).
b) All persons who have made payments to Allcare for dental services, products, and/or warranties that have not been rendered or provided, and who are entitled under state law to pursue consumer-protection actions (“State-Law Sub-Class”). State-Law Sub-Class Plaintiffs herein allege an Amalgamated Consumer-Protection cause of action for Unlawful and Deceptive Sales Practices incorporating the underlying principles of such state-law claims. Alternatively, should the Court not accept the amalgamated state-law consumer-protection cause of action, Plaintiffs would seek to represent a separate sub-class for each state included in the amalgamated state-law consumer-protection cause of action (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin).
Plaintiffs in the Ohio class action sought to represent classes as follows:
a) All persons in Ohio who have made payments to Allcare for dental services and/or equipment that has not been rendered or provided (“Ohio Class”); and
b) All persons in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin who have made payments to Allcare for dental services and/or equipment that has not been rendered or provided (“National Class”).
Copies of the Complaints describing the specific claims made are available here:
New York Complaint : http://allcaredentalclassaction.com/uploads/NY_Complaint__Time_Stamped___07125826x9E218_.PDF
Ohio Complaint: http://allcaredentalclassaction.com/uploads/ohio-complaint.PDF
What should I do if I believe I fit within the described class(es)?
If you do not want to pursue any legal action, nothing needs to be done. If you do want to pursue legal actions, a licensed attorney should be consulted to determine if a claim is valid and the applicable statute of limitations for theclaim. The Spangenberg Law Firm is not pursuing individual claims in this matter.
(1) This also involved associated cases 11-13847, 11-13850, 11-13851,11-13852, 11-13853, 11-13854, 11-13855, 11-13856, 11-13857, 11-13858, 11-13859, 11-13860, 11-13861, and 11-13862.
Alex McLaughlin, Spangenberg, Shibley & Liber LLP, http://www.spanglaw.com, +1 (216) 696-3232, [email protected]
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