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According to the release, the lawyers representing the victims, known as "class counsel", advise any class members who intend to submit an appeal should prepare their appeal to be submitted once the new deadline is established.
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio - Following an announcement that the company in charge of distributing settlement money to victims of the East Palestine train derailment was removed, it was announced on Monday that victims who had claims rejected will have more time to appeal.
Kroll Settlement Administration LLC was removed from handling distribution of funds in June of 2025.
A federal judge overseeing the East Palestine train derailment case ordered that Kroll be removed because she said she had "sufficient reason to believe" that Kroll did not properly carry out its duties in managing the settlement.
More specifically, U.S. District Judge Benita Y. Pearson believes that Kroll did not correctly follow the "Plan of Distribution", which is like a detailed rulebook for how the settlement money should be divided.
Epiq Class Action & Claims Solutions, Inc. was named as the new company to handle payments.
A news release from Simmons Hanly Conroy, one of the law firms involved in the case, says that the transfer of claims administration responsibility is "well underway."
Additionally, according to the release, residents who received rejection notices after June 12, 2025 will have more time to file an appeal.
According to the release, the original June 24, 2025 deadline has been temporarily suspended.
No new deadline has been announced at this time, but the release states that class members will be notified of a new deadline in writing once it is established.
According to the release, the lawyers representing the victims, known as "class counsel", advise any class members who intend to submit an appeal should prepare their appeal to be submitted once the new deadline is established.
Epiq has a dedicated team of experienced professionals to complete the claims administration, including the review of previous rejections, according to the release.
Attorneys Jayne Conroy, Beth Graham and Seth Katz of Simmons Hanly Conroy, Grant & Eisenhofer and Burg Simpson gave a joint statement within the release, focusing on their collaboration with Epiq.
"Class Counsel has been working with the new administrators at Epiq to make sure that clarity, consistency and urgency are prioritized for residents' settlements," said the attorneys in a joint statement.
They continued," We will ensure that the Voluntary Exposure funds are delivered to the hands of the citizens in the correct amounts."
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