Opinion
No. 00 Civ. 0648 (LAK)
February 23, 2000
ORDER
The Court having conducted a pretrial conference in these actions, all of which involve common questions of law and fact, it is hereby
ORDERED, as follows:
I. CONSOLIDATION
1. The actions listed on the annexed schedule are consolidated for all purposes pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 42(a). They shall be referred to collectively as In re Auction Houses Antitrust Litigation, Master File No. 00 Civ. 0648 (LAK).
2. No action taken hereunder shall have the effect of making any person, firm or corporation a party to any action in which s/he or it has not been named, served, or added as such in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
II. MASTER DOCKET AND SEPARATE ACTION DOCKETS
3. A Master Docket is hereby established for the consolidated proceedings in the actions consolidated herein and any other actions subsequently consolidated with them either for all purposes or for pretrial purposes (the "Consolidated Actions"). Entries in said Master Docket shall be applicable to the Consolidated Actions, and entries shall be made therein in accordance with the regular procedures of the Clerk of this Court, except as modified by this Order.
4. When a pleading is filed and the caption, pursuant to this Order, shows that it is applicable to "All Actions," the Clerk shall file such pleading in the Master File and note such filing in the Master Docket. No further copies need be filed nor other docket entries made.
III. MASTER FILE AND SEPARATE ACTION FILES
5. A Master File is hereby established for the consolidated proceedings in the Consolidated Actions. The Master File shall be Civil Action No. 00 Civ. 0648 (LAK). The original of this Order shall be filed by the Clerk in the Master File herein established. The Clerk shall maintain separate file for each of the Consolidated Actions and filings shall be made therein in accordance with the regular procedures of the Clerk of this Court except as modified by Section II of this Order. The Clerk shall file a copy of this Order in each such separate file. The Clerk shall mail a copy of this
Order to counsel of record in each of the Consolidated Actions.
IV. NEWLY FILED OR TRANSFERRED ACTIONS
6. When a case that relates to the same subject matter as the Consolidated Actions is hereafter filed in or transferred to this Court and assigned to the undersigned, it shall be consolidated with these actions in the same manner as the cases identified in Section I above (provided that any case transferred to this Court solely for pretrial proceedings shall be consolidated only to that extent absent further order of this Court), except as provided below, and the Clerk of the Court shall:
a. File a copy of this Order in the separate file for such action.
b. Mail a copy of the Order of assignment to counsel for plaintiffs and counsel for each defendant in the Consolidated Actions.
c. Make an appropriate entry in the Master Docket.
d. Mail to the attorneys for the plaintiff(s) in the newly filed or transferred case a copy of this Order.
e. Upon the first appearance of any new defendant(s), mail to the attorneys for such defendant(s) in such newly filed or transferred case a copy of this Order.
7. The Court requests the assistance of counsel in calling to the attention of the Clerk the filing or transfer of any case which might properly be consolidated with these actions.
V. APPLICATION OF THIS ORDER TO SUBSEQUENT CASES
8. This Order shall apply to each case alleging claims similar to those set forth in these actions, which is subsequently filed in or transferred to this Court, and which is assigned to the undersigned unless a party objecting to the consolidation of that case or to any other provision of this Order serves an application for relief from this Order or from any of its provisions within ten (10) days after the date on which the Clerk mails a copy of this Order to counsel for that party.
VI. CAPTIONS
9. Every pleading filed in the Consolidated Action, and in any separate action included therein, shall bear the following caption:
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
IN RE AUCTION HOUSES ANTITRUST LITIGATION MASTER FILE 00 Civ. 0648 (LAK)
This Document Relates To:
10. When a pleading is intended to be applicable to all actions to which this Order applies, the words "All Actions" shall appear immediately after the words "This Document Relates To:" in the caption. When a pleading is intended to apply only to less than all of such actions, the docket number for each individual action to which it is intended to apply and the name of the plaintiff in said action shall appear immediately after the words "This Document Relates To:" in the caption.
VII. FILING AND DOCKETING
11. When a paper is filed and the caption shows that it is applicable to All Actions, the Clerk shall file it in the Master File and note such filing in the Master Docket. No other docket entries need be made nor copies filed in other files.
12. When a paper is filed and the caption shows that it is applicable to less than All Actions, the Clerk shall file the original of the paper in the Master File and a copy in the file of each separate action to which it applies and shall note such filing in the Master Docket and in the docket of each such separate action. The party filing such paper shall supply the Clerk with sufficient copies of any paper to permit compliance with this paragraph.
VIII. INTERIM ORGANIZATION OF COUNSEL
13. Christopher Lovell, Robert A. Skirnick, Robert N. Kaplan, Michael D. Hausfeld, Stanley Grossman, and Fred Furth shall serve as the Plaintiffs' Interim Executive Committee (the "Interim Committee") for all plaintiffs in the Consolidated Actions pending further order of the Court. The Court intends to give further consideration to the appropriate organization of plaintiffs' counsel and the basis for selecting any attorneys to act on behalf of the group or any class that may be certified herein.
14. The Interim Committee shall have the following responsibilities to be carried out either personally or through such counsel as they jointly may designate:
a. Sign any consolidated complaint, motions, briefs, discovery requests, objections, or notices on behalf of all plaintiffs or those plaintiffs filing the particular papers.
b. Conduct all pretrial proceedings on behalf of plaintiffs.
c. Brief and argue motions.
d. Initiate and conduct discovery.
e. Speak on behalf of plaintiffs at any pretrial conference.
f. Employ and consult with experts.
g. Conduct settlement negotiations with defense counsel on behalf of plaintiffs.
h. Call meetings of plaintiffs' counsel.
i. Coordinate the work of plaintiffs' counsel and perform such other duties as the Interim Committee deems necessary.
j. Distribute to all plaintiffs' counsel copies of all notices, orders, and decisions of the Court; maintain an up-to-date list of counsel available to all plaintiffs' counsel on request; keep a complete file of all papers and discovery materials filed or generated in the Consolidated Actions which shall be available to all plaintiffs' counsel at reasonable hours.
15. The Interim Committee shall perform its work and coordinate the activities of plaintiffs' counsel in such a manner as to promote the orderly and efficient conduct of the litigation and to avoid unnecessary or duplicative work.
IX. SCHEDULE
16. Plaintiffs shall file a consolidated amended complaint within 21 days of the date of this order.
17. Further proceedings in the Consolidated Actions and any actions subsequently consolidated with them shall be governed by the following schedule, which will not be modified absent substantial reason:
a. Plaintiffs' class action motion shall be filed on or before March 22, 2000.
b. No amendments to the pleadings or joinder of additional parties shall be permitted after April 15, 2000.
c. All fact discovery shall be completed and reports of proposed expert witnesses served on or before October 23, 2000.
d. Reports of any proposed rebuttal expert witnesses, and any supplements to reports of other experts in light of reports of adversary experts, shall be served on or before November 22, 2000.
e. The joint pretrial order, any motions for summary judgment, and any requested jury instructions (if applicable) shall be served on or before November 22, 2000.
f. Depositions and any other discovery of proposed expert witnesses shall be completed on or before December 22, 2000.
g. The case is set for trial at 9:30 a.m. on February 27, 2001.
X. DISCOVERY
18. Discovery disputes are to be raised with the Court by letter in accordance with the individual practices of the undersigned only after counsel have exhausted their ability to resolve them by agreement. The Court assumes that competent counsel will be able to resolve virtually all such disagreements in a spirit of cooperation and compromise.
19. Tardy presentation of discovery issues to the Court by the party seeking discovery may be regarded as sufficient reason for denial of the discovery at issue.
XI. DOCUMENT PRESERVATION AND TIME RECORDS
20. Pending the entry of any superseding stipulation or order, each party shall take all reasonable steps to preserve all currently existing documents (as that term is defined in Fed.R.Civ.P. 34) in its possession, custody or control that are relevant to the Consolidated Actions. Counsel are encouraged meet and agree concerning categories of documents the preservation of which are unnecessary.
21. The Court reserves the right to deny any attorney's fee application that hereafter may be made if it is unsupported by contemporaneous time records reasonably describing the services performed.
SCHEDULE
The actions now subject to this order are:
Name of First Named Plaintiff Docket No. (00 Civ.)
Black 648 Kass 677 Zabarkus 748 Meadow 756 Madoff 766 Freedom Trust Co. 767 Glauberman 775 Rush 796 Haberman 798 Wigglesworth 799 Daly 827 Cafesjian 835 Shaninian 837 Donoghue 838 Schiffrin 850 Ackerman 886 Abrahams 891 Flander's Contemporary Art 892 Noble 904 Mintz 931 Brett Mitchell Collection 934 Marlor 939 Stern 941 Heffler 944 Sayers 945 Afben Associates 947 Goldberg 950 Black 951 Rush 952 Kelley 1013 Pridemore 1047