Opinion
CASE NO. 3:10-md-2143 (RS)
03-28-2013
IN RE OPTICAL DISK DRIVE ANTITRUST LITIGATION [ALL ACTIONS]
AARON M. SHEANIN Bruce L. Simon PEARSON, SIMON & WARSHAW, LLP Counsel for Direct Purchaser Class GUIDO SAVERI R. Alexander Saveri Cadio Zirpoli SAVERI & SAVERI, INC. Interim Lead Counsel for Direct Purchaser Class Jeff D. Friedman Shana Scarlett HAGENS BERMAN SOBOL SHAPIRO LLP Interim Lead Counsel for Indirect Purchaser Plaintiffs Belinda S Lee LATHAM & WATKINS LLP Liaison Counsel on behalf of all Defendants
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE DISCOVERY
MATTERS (February 28, 2013 Discovery
Status Conference)
On February 28, 2013, this Court held a hearing on the status of the following outstanding discovery matters, which are described in the parties' Joint Discovery Conference Statement (Dkt. No. 767): (1) schedule for Defendants' production of custodial documents for agreed-upon search terms; (2) schedule for completion of negotiations over search terms; (3) schedule for Defendants' production of custodial documents for disputed search terms; (4) Panasonic's opposition to using Plaintiffs' proposed translations of search terms in Japanese; (5) depositions of class representatives; (6) depositions of J.C. Lim of PLDS and Eugene Yang of HLDS; (7) Defendants' responses to Plaintiffs' questions concerning transactional data; (8) Defendants' narrative responses to Plaintiffs' Rule 30(b)(6) topics; and (9) Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs' production of documents. This Order memorializes the rulings issued on each of these discovery matters during the discovery hearing and, where appropriate, the agreements of the parties with respect to matters over which they were directed to meet and confer.
1. Schedule for Defendants' Production of Custodial Documents for Agreed-Upon Search Terms
Defendants are ordered to complete their productions of custodial documents for the top ten identified custodians for all agreed-upon search terms by March 15, 2013. Any Defendant may seek an extension of this deadline from Plaintiffs, as necessitated by individual technical issues. If the parties are unable to resolve a dispute concerning a request for an extension of the deadline, they shall promptly submit the dispute to the Court in a joint letter.
2. Schedule for Completion of Negotiations Over Search Terms
The parties are ordered to complete their negotiations over disputed search terms by March 8, 2013. Parties that are unable to resolve their disputes by that deadline shall appear before the Court on March 8, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. to resolve their disputes in the jury room.
3. Schedule for Defendants' Production of Custodial Documents for Disputed Search Terms
Defendants are ordered to produce custodial documents for the top ten identified custodians for all originally disputed search terms on a rolling basis. Defendants shall complete all such productions by March 31, 2013. Any Defendant may seek an extension of this deadline from Plaintiffs, as necessitated by individual technical issues. If the parties are unable to resolve a dispute concerning a request for an extension of the deadline, they shall promptly submit the dispute to the Court in a joint letter.
4. Panasonic's Opposition to Using Plaintiffs' Proposed Translations of Search Terms in Japanese
Plaintiffs and Panasonic are ordered to resolve their dispute concerning the use of Plaintiffs' proposed translations of search terms in Japanese by February 28, 2013.
5. Depositions of Class Representatives
Defendants are ordered by March 4, 2013 to identify all class representative depositions (both by name and proposed date and location) which they intend to notice prior to Plaintiffs' deadline for filing their class certification motions. By March 11, 2013, Plaintiffs shall then confirm the proposed deposition date or provide an alternative date, which absent extenuating circumstances, shall be no more than two weeks after the originally noticed deposition date. Defendants shall take the depositions of no more than one-half of the total representatives of the litigation classes in each of the operative complaints before April 29, 2013.
6. Depositions of J.C. Lim of PLDS and Eugene Yang of HLDS
The deposition of J.C. Lim shall take place in San Francisco, California on June 5, 2013 and June 6, 2013. The deposition of Eugene Yang shall take place on consecutive days until complete at any time between May 28, 2013 and June 23, 2013, in San Francisco, California, provided that Mr. Yang is able to obtain a visa to travel to the United States during that time period, or in Seoul, Korea if Mr. Yang is unable to obtain a visa. To the extent that Mr. Yang is able to travel to the United States, his deposition shall commence on May 30, 2013. These dates may be modified for good cause or by agreement of the parties. The Court understands that the parties are presently negotiating a deposition protocol. The Court is inclined to allow additional time beyond that provided in Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(d)(1) to allow all parties to examine the witnesses.
7. Defendants' Responses to Plaintiffs' Questions Concerning Transactional Data
The parties were ordered to meet and confer on February 28, 2013 over the date by which Defendants shall provide answers to Plaintiffs' technical questions about the format and content of the transactional data Defendants produced. The parties subsequently agreed that Defendants shall provide those answers by March 15, 2013.
8. Defendants' Narrative Responses to Plaintiffs' Rule 30(b)(6) Topics
The parties were ordered to meet and confer on February 28, 2013 about the date by which Defendants shall provide substantive, supplemental narrative responses to Plaintiffs' Rule 30(b)(6) topics, or to complete the meet and confer concerning the same. The parties subsequently agreed that Defendants shall provide those supplemental narrative responses or complete the meet and confer by March 22, 2013. Plaintiffs have agreed on an individual basis to allow certain Defendants to provide supplemental narrative responses or complete the meet and confer by March 29, 2013. The parties may agree to an extension of these deadlines on an individual Defendant basis.
9. Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs' Production of Documents
The parties were ordered to meet and confer on February 28, 2013 about the date by which Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs shall complete their production of documents. The parties subsequently agreed that Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs shall complete their productions for all class representatives in the Second Consolidated Class Action Complaint no later than March 15, 2013. This deadline is hereby adopted. The Court is not prepared to rule on whether discovery of the Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs' downstream data is permitted. The parties may submit that issue for ruling by joint letter brief.
The Court will hold a further discovery conference on April 4, 2013 at 3:30 p.m. The parties are ordered to submit an updated discovery conference statement on April 2, 2013.
_____________________
JOSEPH C. SPERO
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Submitted by: ____________
AARON M. SHEANIN
Bruce L. Simon
PEARSON, SIMON & WARSHAW, LLP
Counsel for Direct Purchaser Class
_____________________
GUIDO SAVERI
R. Alexander Saveri
Cadio Zirpoli
SAVERI & SAVERI, INC.
Interim Lead Counsel for Direct Purchaser
Class
____________
Jeff D. Friedman
Shana Scarlett
HAGENS BERMAN SOBOL SHAPIRO
LLP
Interim Lead Counsel for Indirect Purchaser
Plaintiffs
Approved as to form: _____________________
Belinda S Lee
LATHAM & WATKINS LLP Liaison Counsel on behalf of all Defendants
ATTESTATION OF CONCURRENCE IN THE FILING
Pursuant to Civil Local Rule No. 5-1(i)(3), I declare that concurrence has been obtained from each of the above signatories to file this document with the Court.
____________
AARON M. SHEANIN
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, Aaron M. Sheanin, declare that I am over the age of eighteen (18) and not a party to the entitled action. I am of counsel to the law firm of Pearson, Simon & Warshaw, LLP, and my office is located at 44 Montgomery Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, California 94104. On March 28, 2013, I caused to be filed the following:
[PROPOSED] ORDER RE DISCOVERY MATTERS
with the Clerk of the Court using the Official Court Electronic Document Filing System which served copies on all interested parties registered for electronic filing.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
____________
AARON M. SHEANIN