From: Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund [mailto:heathergray@federation.coop]
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 7:08 AM
To: Cotton, Ron
Subject: Black Farmer Setlement Claims Meetings Begin
Federation of Southern Cooperatives/
Land Assistance Fund
For Immediate Release: November 16, 2011
Contact: Heather Gray 404 765 0991
Meetings with Class Council and Black Farmers for the Claims Process has Begun
Potential Claimants Need to Call Class Council Immediately to Make Appointments
ATLANTA....The first meetings to process the claims in the second phase of the Pigford lawsuit have begun. The first one was in Hattiesburg, Mississippi yesterday, Tuesday, November 15. There are many other meetings scheduled across the South. "Farmers don't need to worry about being in the first meetings with council," said Ralph Paige, Executive Director of the Federation."There will be several meetings throughout the South and Judge Paul Friedman is not going to allow money to be sent out until all claims are processed. We do encourage farmers to call to set up their meetings with class council, however. They should do that immediately." (Please see the information below about setting up appointments with class council.)
The ending date for filing claims is May 11, 2012.
It is in Mississippi where most of the meetings will take place because Mississippi has the the most claimants, estimated at approximately 21,422, including the late and late/late filers. Starting in January 2012 until May 11, 2012 there will be meetings in Mississippi almost every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
To find information about the schedule of meetings you can go to the "In Re Black Farmers Discrimination Litigation Settlement" at https://www.blackfarmercase.com// or go this website at https://www.blackfarmercase.com//Meetings.aspx.
GETTING ASSISTANCE OF CLASS COUNCIL!!!! Farmers are encouraged to contact class council to make appointments for the meetings - ASAP. This, of course, is to receive assistance in filling out the claim forms. Please see the information below about this. If farmers seek assistance of council who are not class council, claimants will need to pay the attorney fee directly out of their relief money - this is not so with class council.
Also, it's important for everyone to know that if individuals fill out the form themselves and send it in themselves, they cannot send in another one if they find they made some errors. It's best that farmers receive the assistance of class council.
There are no appeals in this second phase of the Pigford lawsuit. All decisions based on the claims farmers have submitted are final. This is why we encourage farmers to receive the best assistance possible to fill out the claim forms.
Some facts everyone needs to know:
(1) Appointments for meetings: To repeat, in all of the claims meetings, class council will have made appointments with the claimants. These are not cold-call meetings.
(2) Claim forms: As we've said, people need to call EPIQ at 877 810 8110 for their claim forms. We are also told by EPIQ that a significant number of claim forms will be mailed out this week to all the eligible late filers and late/late filers. All individual claims will have bar-codes specific to the individual claimant.
(3) Taking claim forms to meetings with class council: When going to the meetings with class council farmers need to take with them the claim forms they have received from EPIQ.
(3) IMPORTANT - ASK FOR CLASS COUNCIL WHEN CALLING EPIQ: When people call the 877 810 8110 number they need to also ask to be referred to class council for setting up an appointment for the meetings with class council. We are also told, however, that EPIQ is encouraging eligible claimants who call to speak with class counsel. This is how claimants get an appointment - talking with class council. If farmers have already called for their claim form, and did not talk with class council at that time, they can call back again and ask to be transferred on the phone to class council.
(4) IMPORTANT - ANOTHER WAY TO CONTACT CLASS COUNCIL FOR APPOINTMENTS: Claimants can also call class council at 866 472 7826 to make an appointment for one of the meetings.
Relevant documents:
* In re Black Farmer Litigation Settlement
* Judge Paul Friedman's Court Order
* Original Pigford v Glickman Consent Decree
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(Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund)
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Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund | 2769 Church Street | East Point | GA | 30344
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Re: FW: Black Farmer Setlement Claims Meetings Begin
On Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 10:18 PM, <LawrLCL@aol.com> wrote:
