Opinion
19-CV-9302 (ALC) (BCM) 17-CV-6685 (ALC) (BCM) 20-CV-7092 (ALC) (BCM)
05-17-2022
MICHAEL L. FERGUSON, et al., Plaintiffs, v. RUANE CUNNIFF & GOLDFARB INC., et al., Defendants. MARTIN J. WALSH, Plaintiff, v. RUANE, CUNNIFF & GOLDFARB, INC., et al. Defendants. MICHAEL L. FERGUSON, et al., Plaintiffs, v. ROBERT D. GOLDFARB, Defendant.
ORDER
BARBARA MOSES, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE.
All three of the above-titled actions have now been referred to Magistrate Judge Moses, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A), for general pretrial management. All pretrial motions and applications, including those related to scheduling and discovery (but excluding motions to dismiss or for judgment on the pleadings, for injunctive relief, for summary judgment, or for class certification under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23) must be made to Judge Moses and in compliance with this Court's Individual Practices in Civil Cases, available on the Court's website at https://nysd.uscourts.gov/hon-barbara-moses. Although they are related, these cases are distinct in various ways and are currently at different pretrial stages.
Ferguson v. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb Inc., et al., Case No. 17-CV-6685 (Ferguson I), was referred on January 6, 2020. (Dkt. No. 108 in Ferguson I.) Walsh v. Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, Inc., et al., Case No. 19-CV-9302 (Walsh), was referred on April 12, 2022. (Dkt. No. 156 in Walsh.) Ferguson v. Goldfarb, Case No. 20-CV-7092 (Ferguson II), was referred on May 9, 2022. (Dkt. No. 19 in Ferguson II.)
In Ferguson I, the parties have "substantially completed document discovery" (Dkt. No. 383 in Ferguson I, at 1) in accordance with the deadlines set under the Initial Case Management Order (Dkt. No. 116 in Ferguson I), as modified (see, e.g., Dkt. Nos. 150, 221 in Ferguson I). On September 18, 2020, the parties notified the Court that they had reached a classwide settlement in principle. (Dkt. No. 225 in Ferguson I.) Thereafter, on August 17, 2021, U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter granted plaintiffs' pending motion for class certification but denied preliminary approval of the proposed settlement agreement. (Dkt. No. 311 in Ferguson I.)
The parties in Ferguson II - in which the sole defendant, Robert D. Goldfarb, formerly served as a principal for investment adviser Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, Inc. (RCG) (one of the defendants in both Ferguson I and Walsh) - also filed a motion for settlement approval (Dkt. No. 8 in Ferguson II), which Judge Carter denied on August 30, 2021. (Dkt. No. 17 in Ferguson II.)
On May 5, 2022, certain parties in Ferguson I filed a joint letter requesting a case management conference to set a revised schedule to govern all remaining discovery and pretrial matters in Ferguson I. (Dkt. No. 383 in Ferguson I.) In their joint letter, they also requested that discovery be coordinated among Ferguson I, Ferguson II, and Walsh. (Id. at 2.) That request, in which defendant RCG in Ferguson I did not join and which plaintiff in Walsh opposes (Dkt. No. 386 in Ferguson I), remains outstanding.
Meanwhile, in Walsh - brought by the Secretary of Labor - defendants filed motions to dismiss, all of which Judge Carter denied on March 28, 2022. (Dkt. No. 149 in Walsh), shortly before referring that action to me for general pretrial management. Since no initial case management conference had been held in Walsh (and, accordingly, no discovery and pretrial schedule had been set in that case), I scheduled that conference for today, May 17, 2022. (Dkt. No. 158.) Thereafter, due to a COVID-19 exposure, the Secretary's principal trial attorney requested an adjournment of the initial case management conference, which the Court granted yesterday, moving the Walsh conference to June 16, 2022, at 12:00 noon. (Dkt. No. 165 in Walsh.)
Although the Court did not originally intend to docket the adjournment order in any case other than Walsh, due to a miscommunication between chambers and the Clerk's Office, the same order was posted on the docket of Ferguson I and Ferguson II as well. (See Dkt. No. 388 in Ferguson I; Dkt. No. 21 in Ferguson II.) On reflection, and in the interest of judicial economy, the Court has determined to conduct a joint conference on that day and at that time. Consequently, it is hereby ORDERED that the conference scheduled for June 16, 2022, at 12:00 noon, in Courtroom 20A of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, will function as an initial case management conference in both Walsh and Ferguson II and as a status and scheduling conference in Ferguson I. A separate order will issue in Ferguson II regarding the parties' pre-conference responsibilities.
At the June 16, 2022 conference, the Court will give the parties in all three cases an opportunity to discuss the appropriate degree of coordination, if any, among these three cases, going forward, for discovery purposes. If the parties reach agreement (in whole or in part) regarding such coordination, they shall file a joint letter (docketed in all three cases), outlining the area(s) of agreement, no later than June 9, 2022.
SO ORDERED.