Opinion
STIPULATION CONSOLIDATING ACTIONS AND RELATED MATTERS AND ORDER THEREON
JAMES WARE, District Judge.
WHEREAS, there are presently two related shareholder derivative actions against certain of the officers and directors of Celera Corporation ("Celera") on file in this Court;
WHEREAS, in an effort to assure consistent rulings and decisions and the avoidance of unnecessary duplication of effort, all of the counsel for plaintiffs as well as counsel for nominal defendant Celera in the related Celera shareholder derivative actions currently on file in this Court enter into this stipulation. The counsel are: (1) Robbins Umeda LLP, Harold B. Obstfeld, P.C., and Gardy & Notis, LLP on behalf of plaintiff Alan R. Kahn; (2) Robbins Umeda LLP on behalf of plaintiff Betty Greenberg; and (3) Latham & Watkins LLP on behalf of nominal defendant Celera;
WHEREAS, plaintiffs and nominal defendant Celera agree that it would be duplicative and wasteful of the Court's resources for defendants named in plaintiffs' shareholder derivative actions to have to respond to the individual complaints prior to the agreed upon consolidation.
NOW THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED by plaintiffs and nominal defendant Celera, through their respective counsel of record, as follows:
1. The following actions are hereby related and consolidated for all purposes, including pre-trial proceedings and trial:
Case Name Case Number Date Filed Kahn v. Ordonez, et al. No. C 10-02935 EMC July 2, 2010 Greenberg v. Ordonez, et al. No. C 10-03029 BZ July 9, 2010
2. Every pleading filed in the consolidated action, or in any separate action included herein, shall bear the following caption:
3. The files of the consolidated action shall be maintained in one file under Master File No. C 10-02935 JW. The Clerk shall close No. C 10-03029 JW.
4. Plaintiffs shall either designate a complaint as operative or file a Consolidated filed a Consolidated Complaint on or before October 15, 2010. Complaint ("Consolidated Complaint") within thirty days after entry of this order, unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties or ordered by the Court. If filed, the Consolidated Complaint shall be the operative complaint and shall supersede all complaints filed in any of the actions consolidated herein.
Defendants shall respond to the operative complaint or Consolidated Complaint within sixty days after service, unless otherwise agreed by the parties or ordered by the Court. In the event that defendants file any motions directed at the operative complaint or Consolidated Complaint, the opposition and reply briefs shall be filed within sixty and thirty days, respectively, of the motions, unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties or ordered by the Court. Counsel agrees to confer to select a hearing date.
5. All of the counsel for plaintiffs propose as follows:
a. The Lead Plaintiffs for these consolidated actions are Alan R. Kahn and Betty Greenberg.
b. The Co-Lead Counsel for plaintiffs for the conduct of these consolidated actions are:
c. Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel shall have sole authority to speak for plaintiffs in matters regarding pre-trial procedure, trial, and settlement and shall make all work assignments in such manner as to facilitate the orderly and efficient prosecution of this litigation and to avoid duplicative or unproductive effort.
d. Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel shall be responsible for coordinating all activities and appearances on behalf of plaintiffs. No motion, request for discovery, or other pre-trial or trial proceedings shall be initiated or filed by any plaintiff except through plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel.
e. Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel shall be available and responsible for communications to and from this Court, including distributing orders and other directions from the Court to counsel. Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel shall be responsible for creating and maintaining a master service list of all parties and their respective counsel.
f. Defendants' counsel may rely upon all agreements made with plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel, or other duly authorized representative of plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel, and such agreements shall be binding on all plaintiffs.
6. Nominal defendant Celera takes no position as to the appointment of Lead Plaintiffs or Co-Lead Counsel.
7. This Order shall apply to each case, arising out of the same or substantially the same transactions or events as these cases, which is subsequently filed in, remanded to or transferred to this Court.
8. When a case which properly belongs as part of the In re Celera Corporation Shareholder Derivative Litigation, Lead Case No. C 10-02935 EMC, is hereafter filed in the Court or transferred here from another court, this Court requests the assistance of counsel in calling to the attention of the clerk of the Court the filing or transfer of any case which might properly be
The Court declines to adopt the remaining provisions of the parties' Stipulation.
The parties shall appear for a Case Management Conference on November 15, 2010 at 10 a.m. On or before November 5, 2010, the parties shall file a Joint Case Management Statement with their proposals as to how this case should proceed consistent with the PSLRA.