1. Why was the Notice issued?
2. What is this lawsuit about?
3. What is a class action?
4. Why is there a settlement?
5. Who is included in the Settlement?
6. Are there exceptions to being included?
7. What does the Settlement provide?
8. What claims am I releasing if I stay in the Class?
9. How do I submit a claim for a Settlement benefit?
10. Are there any important Settlement payment deadlines?
11. When will the Settlement benefits be issued?
12. Do I have a lawyer in the case?
13. Should I get my own lawyer?
14. How will Class Counsel be paid?
15. How do I opt out of the Settlement?
16. How do I tell the Court if I like or do not like the Settlement?
17. What is the difference between objecting and excluding?
18. When is the Court’s Final Approval Hearing?
19. Do I have to come to the Final Approval Hearing?
20. What happens if I do nothing at all?
21. How do I get more information?
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California, authorized the Notice. You have a right to know about the proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit, and about all of your options, before the Court decides whether to grant final approval of the Settlement. The Notice explains the lawsuit, your legal rights, what benefits are available, and who can receive them.
The lawsuit is called Cochrane v. People Data Labs, Inc., Case No. 3:25-cv-09533-RFL. It is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The person that filed this lawsuit is called the “Plaintiff” (or “Class Representative”) and the company they sued, People Data Labs, Inc., is called the “Defendant.”
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This lawsuit alleges that PDL violated the Colorado Prevention of Telemarketing Fraud Act ("PTFA") by listing Colorado citizens’ cellular telephone numbers in a directory without obtaining the appropriate consent, from September 1, 2022, through March 3, 2026.
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In a class action, one or more individuals sue on behalf of other people with similar claims. These individuals are called the “Plaintiffs” or “Class Representatives.” Together, the people included in the class action are called a “Class” or “Class Members.” One court resolves the lawsuit for all Class Members, except for those who opt out from the Settlement. In this Settlement, the Class Representative is Janelle Cochrane. Everyone included in this Action are the Class Members.
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The Court did not decide whether the Plaintiff or the Defendant are right. Both sides have agreed to a settlement to avoid the costs and risks of a trial, and to allow the Class Members to receive benefits from the Settlement. The Plaintiff and their attorneys think the Settlement is best for all Class Members.
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The Court has defined the Class this way: “All individuals in People Data Labs’ database with an (1) inferred mobile number as determined by the information available in Defendant’s records, (2) a Colorado area code, (3) an inferred Colorado location (current or historical), (4) whose data was sourced on or after September 2022, and (5) whose information was disclosed at least once from September 2022 to March 3, 2026.”
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Yes. Excluded from the Class are: (1) the Judge in this case, and the Judge’s family and staff; (2) PDL and its officers, directors, and related companies; and (3) anyone who validly excludes themselves from the Settlement.
If you are not sure whether you are a Class Member, you can ask for free help any time by contacting the Settlement Administrator at:
PDL PTFA Settlement
c/o Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 25226
Santa Ana, CA 92799-9958
Email: info@PDLSettlement.com
Call toll free, 24/7: (833) 421-7342
You may also view the Settlement Agreement here.
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PDL will establish a Settlement Fund of $6,362,167.00. After deduction of costs of notice and settlement administration, any award of attorneys’ fees, litigation costs, and any Service Award for the Class Representative, the remaining Settlement Fund money will be divided equally between everyone who files a valid and timely claim. The specific payment you receive will depend on how many other Class Members file valid and timely claims.
If you have questions about how this works, you can ask for free help any time by contacting the Settlement Administrator at:
PDL PTFA Settlement
c/o Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 25226
Santa Ana, CA 92799-9958
Email: info@PDLSettlement.com
Call toll free, 24/7: (833) 421-7342
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If you stay in the class, you won’t be able to sue, continue to sue, or otherwise be part of any other lawsuit against PDL about the issues that this Settlement covers. The “Releases” section of the Settlement Agreement (Section 3) describes the legal claims that you give up if you remain in the Class. The Settlement Agreement is available here.
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The fastest way to submit your Claim Form is online here. If you prefer, you can download a printable Claim Form here and mail it to the Settlement Administrator at:
PDL PTFA Settlement
c/o Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 25226
Santa Ana, CA 92799-9958
You may also contact the Settlement Administrator to request a Claim Form by email at info@PDLSettlement.com, or by U.S. mail at the address above.
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If you are submitting a Claim Form online here, you must do so by September 29, 2026. If you are downloading a Claim form here and submitting a claim by U.S. mail, the completed and signed Claim Form, including supporting documentation, must be postmarked no later than September 29, 2026.
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The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on November 17, 2026 (see Question 18). The hearing date may change without further notice to the class. Please be advised to check this website or the Court’s PACER site detailed below to confirm that the date has not been changed. If the Court approves the Settlement, there may be appeals. We do not know if appeals will be filed, or how long it will take to resolve them if they are filed.
Settlement payments will be distributed if the Court grants final approval, and after any appeals are resolved.
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Yes, the Court has appointed attorneys Joseph I. Marchese, Daniel S. Guerra, and Matthew A. Girardi of Bursor & Fisher, P.A., to represent you and other Class Members (“Class Counsel”). You may contact Class Counsel to answer any questions you may have.
Bursor & Fisher, P.A.
1330 Avenue of the Americas, 32nd Floor
New York, NY 10019
Telephone: (646) 837-7150
Fax: (212) 989-9163
Email: info@bursor.com
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You will not be charged for Class Counsel’s services. If you want your own lawyer, you may hire one at your expense.
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Class Counsel will ask the Court to approve up to one-third of the Settlement Fund as reasonable attorneys' fees and reimbursement of litigation costs. This amount will be paid from the Settlement Fund.
Class Counsel will also ask for a Service Award Payment of $5,000.00 for the Class Representative. The Service Award Payment will be determined by the Court and will also be paid from the Settlement Fund.
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If you do not want to be part of the Settlement, you must formally exclude yourself from the Settlement. This is called a Request for Exclusion, and is sometimes also called “opting out.” If you opt out, you will not receive Settlement benefits or payment. However, you will keep any rights you may have to sue PDL on your own about the legal issues in this case.
If you exclude yourself, you are telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Settlement. You will not be eligible to receive any Settlement benefits if you exclude yourself.
The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement is September 29, 2026.
To be valid, your Request for Exclusion must have the following information:
the name of the Litigation: Cochrane v. People Data Labs, Inc., Case No. 3:25-cv-09533-RFL, pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California;
your full name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address;
personal signature;
the words “Request for Exclusion” or a clear and similar statement that you do not want to participate in the Settlement.
You may only exclude yourself—not any other person.
Mail your Request for Exclusion to the Settlement Administrator at:
PDL PTFA Settlement
ATTN: Exclusion Request
P.O. Box 25226
Santa Ana, CA 92799-9958
Your Request for Exclusion must be submitted and postmarked by September 29, 2026.
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If you are a Class Member and do not like part or all of the Settlement, you can object to it. Objecting means telling the Court your reasons for why you think the Court should not approve the Settlement. The Court will consider your views.
You can ask the Court to deny approval by filing an objection. You can’t ask the Court to order a different settlement; the Court can only approve or reject the Settlement. If the Court denies approval, no settlement payments will be sent out, and the lawsuit will continue. If that is what you want to happen, you should object.
You cannot object if you have excluded yourself from the Settlement (see Question 15).
You must provide the following information for the Court to consider your objection:
the name of the Litigation: Cochrane v. People Data Labs, Inc., Case No. 3:25-cv-09533-RFL, pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California;
your full name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address;
information that proves that you are a Class Member, including an attestation that you owned the cellular telephone number associated with you in PDL’s records between September 1, 2022, and March 3, 2026;
a clear description of all the reasons you object; include any legal support, such as documents, you may have for your objection;
if you have hired your own lawyer to represent you for this objection, provide their name, bar number, and contact information;
if you or your lawyer have objected in any other cases and asked for or received any payment in exchange for dismissing your objection or related appeal, without any modification to the Settlement, list the names, courts, the orders ruling on your objections, and civil action numbers for each of those cases;
if you plan on calling witnesses or submitting documents at the Final Approval Hearing, provide a full list of both;
your signature (if you have hired your own lawyer, their signature is not sufficient).
Any objection to the proposed Settlement must be in writing. If you file a timely written objection, you may, but are not required to, appear at the Final Approval Hearing, either in person or through your own attorney. If you appear through your own attorney, you are responsible for hiring and paying that attorney. All written objections and supporting papers must (a) clearly identify the case name and number (Cochrane v. People Data Labs, Inc., Case No. 3:25-cv-09533-RFL), (b) be submitted to the Court either by filing them electronically or in person at any location of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California or by mailing them to the Clerk of the Court as detailed below, and (c) be filed or postmarked on or before September 29, 2026.
For your objection to be valid, it must substantially meet each of these requirements. These requirements may be excused upon a showing of good cause.
To be considered by the Court, you must file your complete objection with the Clerk of Court by September 29, 2026. You must also send a copy of the objection to the Settlement Administrator.
Clerk of the Court | Settlement Administrator |
Clerk of the Court | PDL PTFA Settlement |
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Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like something about the Settlement. You can object to the Settlement only if you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement. Excluding yourself from the Settlement is opting out and stating to the Court that you do not want to be part of the Settlement. If you opt out of the Settlement, you cannot object to it because the Settlement no longer affects you.
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The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on November 17, 2026, at 10:00 am Pacific Time, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, at 450 Golden Gate Avenue, Courtroom 4, 17th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102. You may also attend the hearing via the Zoom (see the Public Hearings link and instructions at https://cand.uscourts.gov/judges/lin-rita-f-rfl).
At the Final Approval Hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement. The Court will also decide how Class Counsel should be paid, and whether to award a Service Award Payment to the Class Representative. The Court will also consider any objections to the Settlement.
If you are a Class Member, you or your lawyer may ask permission to speak at the hearing at your own cost (see Question 16). Upon a showing of good cause to the Court, any objecting Class Member may appear, in person or by counsel, at the Final Approval Hearing held by the Court.
The Court may reschedule the Final Approval Hearing or change any of the deadlines described in the Notice. The date of the Final Approval Hearing may change without further notice to Class Members. Be sure to check this website for news of any such changes. You can also access the case docket via the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov.
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No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. You may attend at your own expense if you wish, but you do not have to.
If you file an objection, you do not have to come to the Final Approval Hearing to talk about it; absent good cause, the Court will consider it as long as it was filed on time. You may also pay your own lawyer to attend, but you do not have to.
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If you do nothing, you will not receive a benefit from this Settlement.
You will also give up the rights described in Question 8.
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This website and the Notice are a summary of the proposed Settlement. The full Settlement Agreement and other related documents are available on the Important Documents page.
If you have additional questions, you can ask for free help any time by contacting the Settlement Administrator at:
PDL PTFA Settlement
c/o Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 25226
Santa Ana, CA 92799-9958
Email: info@PDLSettlement.com
Call toll free, 24/7: (833) 421-7342
For the precise terms of the Settlement, please see the Settlement Agreement, by contacting Class Counsel (see Question 12), by accessing the Court docket in this case, for a fee, through the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov, or by visiting the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California at any of the Court’s locations between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays.
Please do not contact the Court or Court Clerk’s office to inquire about this Settlement or the claim process
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