Dear {full_name}:
This is an agreement (the “Agreement”) between you and Saad & Andrews, PC (“S&A” or the “Firm”) for legal representation regarding your claim(s) against Darden Restaurants, Inc. d/b/a Olive Garden, (herein “Respondent”) arising from the Respondent’s alleged unlawful and deceptive marketing and operation of its online ordering platform.
We will not settle your Claims without your express consent. You give us exclusive authorization to negotiate settlements with Respondent, including as part of a group settlement with other similar claims, and to make decisions about litigation, arbitration, or settlement tactics on your behalf. You expressly give us the right to reject any settlement offer that is not equal to your actual loss, or the maximum allowable damages, whichever is greater, unless we believe that we have achieved the likely best settlement possible under the circumstances. If we bring you a settlement offer from Respondent or about your Claims, the final decision on whether to accept the offer is yours. However, we may advise you that we feel the settlement is fair and reasonable, and if you disagree with our advice and continuing to represent you creates an unreasonable financial burden on us, we may withdraw as counsel after giving you reasonable notice. This agreement also authorizes the Firm to settle and release your claim(s) as a part of a class action if Respondent chooses to do so.
The Firm will handle this matter on a contingency fee basis. The contingent fee shall be calculated as forty percent (40%) of the total value of any settlement or recovery obtained, which You understand may include both monetary and non-monetary consideration, and the value of any non-monetary component shall be included in the amount on which the fee is calculated. You understand that any settlement of your claim may include a non-monetary benefit provided or arranged by the Firm and that such benefit will be valued at its retail or fair market value for purposes of calculating the Firm's fee and that You consent to the fee being calculated on the total settlement value including the stated value of any non-monetary benefits. Alternatively, the Firm may negotiate a separate attorneys’ fee with Respondent instead of receiving forty percent of any settlement value or recovery. The Firm reserves the right to associate with co-counsel, but the fee will be split between the Firm and any additional firm(s) they associate with.
The Firm will advance all costs incurred by the Firm during this litigation (e.g., filing fees, travel, distribution costs, etc.). The Firm will be reimbursed for these costs if, and only if, they ultimately obtain a recovery on your behalf. Advanced costs are deducted after the calculation of the contingent fee.
The Firm will keep you informed about the progress of your claim as it moves forward. We will do so via phone calls, emails, and SMS messages. By signing this retainer agreement, you consent to the Firm calling and sending case-related SMS messages to the cell phone number you provided when signing up for representation. If at any time you no longer wish to receive phone calls from the Firm, you can email us at clientcare@saad-andrews.com. Similarly, if you no longer wish to receive SMS messages from the Firm, you can reply “STOP” to any SMS message to opt out of receiving additional messages.
You authorize the Firm to withdraw from representation if it determines for sufficient reasons that your claim(s) should not continue. Regardless, the Firm will maintain the file on this matter for at least six years. If requested, these will be returned to you after the conclusion of the representation.
Finally, the Firm does not make any promises or guarantees regarding the outcome of your claim(s). If you have any questions about the foregoing, please advise. We would appreciate your returning a signed copy of this engagement letter to us for our files.
CERTIFICATION
By signing this Agreement, the undersigned Client certifies that they understand that they will not be able to pursue a claim against Respondent unless they have made an online purchase from Respondent on Respondent’s website or application. By signing this agreement, Client hereby represents that they have an account and made a purchase from Respondent’s website or application. If necessary, the Client could testify or produce documents confirming that they have made an online or application purchase on the Respondent’s website or application.
Client further certifies that they have not retained any other law firm(s) to pursue their claim(s) against Respondent and that they will not retain any other law firm(s) to do so. Client understands that, if they do retain or have retained another law firm to pursue their claim(s), the Firm may terminate its representation of the Client in connection with their claim(s) against Respondent.
COMMUNICATIONS CONSENT
By signing this Agreement, the undersigned Client consents to the Firm keeping them informed about the progress of their claim by calling, emailing, and sending case-related SMS messages to the cell phone number that Client provided to the Firm when signing up for representation. Client understands that, if at any time they no longer wish to receive phone calls from the Firm, they can email clientcare@saad-andrews.com. Client also understands that, if they no longer wish to receive SMS messages from the Firm, they can reply “STOP” to any SMS message to opt out of receiving additional messages.
Additionally, Client consents to the Firm calling, emailing, and sending them SMS messages concerning other matters, lawsuits, and investigations that may be relevant or of interest to Client.
PRESERVATION OF EVIDENCE AND LITIGATION HOLD
The Firm is required by court rules and caselaw to document that Client has been provided with notice of a party’s continuing obligation to preserve evidence and electronically stored information (“ESI”). This communication, commonly referred to as a “litigation hold,” sets forth certain obligations relating to the preservation and maintenance of documents, ESI, and evidence in the case discussed in this retainer agreement (herein “the lawsuit”). The Firm is required to provide this information and to maintain a copy for its files. Please review this portion of the retainer agreement carefully and advise of any questions with regard to same.
By this communication, the Firm is advising Client (“you”/“your”) not to destroy, conceal or alter any relevant paper or electronic files and other data generated by and/or stored on your computers, mobile devices (such as mobile phones, iPads, etc.) and storage media (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, backup tapes, flash/thumb drives), or any other electronic data, such as email, or data on social networking sites controlled by you. This also includes ESI on any cloud-based or third-party remote storage systems, such as, for example, Google Docs, the Respondent App, or any other third-party cloud storage systems.
Unfortunately, your failure to comply with this notice can result in severe sanctions being imposed for spoliation of evidence or potential evidence. All data destruction or deletion policies or settings that can potentially impact ESI or other evidence must be suspended or turned off, immediately.
As you know, the arbitration relates to Respondent, and information regarding same is important in the case. You need to preserve this information, although that does not mean that all of your social media information will be produced in the lawsuit.
Electronic documents and the storage media on which they reside contain relevant, discoverable information beyond that which may be found in printed documents. This data, referred to as metadata, contains information that can be obtained through discovery. Therefore, you may be asked for all documents in their electronic form along with information about those documents contained on the media or storage device. Again, this will be/is an arbitration about your services as a Respondent user, so that information is important. Please do not delete any emails from Respondent.
With regard to electronic data created subsequent to the date of delivery of this letter, relevant evidence is not to be destroyed. Please take whatever steps are appropriate to avoid destruction of evidence.
ARBITRATION AGREEMENT
This agreement touches on Interstate commerce. Any dispute arising out of or relating to this agreement will be decided by binding arbitration in Mobile AL by a single disinterested arbitrator, (Arbitrator), including the scope of arbitration. Notice of demand for arbitration shall be made by either party to the other parties and shall generally state the matter to be arbitrated and its nominee to act as Arbitrator. If the parties do not agree on the nominated Arbitrator within 30 days of the date of the Notice of Demand, each party shall appoint a representative who shall then select a third nominee who will act as Arbitrator. The Arbitrator must be an attorney with no less than 10 years experience as a lawyer and shall not have been employed by or engaged to represent any party in the matter within a period of five years. The Arbitrator shall set the schedule, limits of discovery and shall conduct all hearings and other presentations. The Arbitrator's decision and award shall be in writing and is final. Each party may have counsel at the party’s expense, and each party shall pay 1/2 the expense for the arbitration. There shall be no class arbitration and no consolidation of more than one arbitration. Judgment on any Arbitrator’s award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.
CHOICE OF LAW AND MODIFICATION
This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Alabama. This Agreement represents the sole Agreement between Client and Attorneys. No promise or representation has been made to any party other than those contained in these in this Agreement. While common law or, in some cases, statutory law allows oral notification of a written agreement, the parties have waived that ability and specifically agree that this Agreement may not be modified except by a writing signed by both parties.
If this correspondence is in any way unclear, please contact the Firm immediately. This litigation hold obligation will continue while the litigation is ongoing. The Firm will inform you when the hold expires. By signing this Agreement, you are confirming your understanding and commitment to abide by this duty to preserve the evidence.