Opinion
JONATHAN K. LEVINE, ELIZABETH C. PRITZKER, PRITZKER LEVINE LLP, Oakland, CA, Attorneys for Plaintiffs Sterling International Consulting Group.
EDELSON PC Samuel M. Lasser, San Francisco, California, EDELSON PC Jay Edelson, Rafey S. Balabanian, Benjamin H. Richman, Chicago, IL, Attorneys for Plaintiffs in Hunter v. Lenovo (United States) Inc., et al.
KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP Laurence D. King, Linda Fong, San Francisco, CA, Attorneys for Plaintiffs in Hall, et al. v. Lenovo (United States) Inc., et al.
GIRARD GIBBS LLP Daniel C. Girard, Adam E. Polk, San Francisco, CA, Attorneys for Plaintiffs in Estrella, et al. v. Lenovo (United States) Inc., et al.
COHELAN KHOURY & SINGER Timothy D. Cohelan, J. Jason Hill, San Diego, California, Attorneys for Plaintiffs in Martini v. Lenovo (United States) Inc., et al.
COTCHETT, PITRE & McCARTHY, LLP Philip L. Gregory, Steven N. Williams, Matthew K. Edling, Burlingame, CA, Attorneys for Plaintiff in JGX, Inc. v. Lenovo Group Limited, et al.
GREEN & NOBLIN, P.C. Robert S. Green, Larkspur, CA, FEDERMAN & SHERWOOD William Federman, Oklahoma City, OK, Attorneys for Plaintiffs in Johnson v. Lenovo (United States) Inc., et al.
SCHNEIDER WALLACE COTTRELL KONECKY WOTKYNS LLP Todd M. Schneider, Mark T. Johnson, San Francisco, California, BERGER & MONTAGUE, P.C. Shanon J. Carson, Philadelphia, PA, Attorneys for Plaintiff in Simonoff v. Lenovo (United States) Inc., et al.
WEITZ & LUXENBERG, P.C. Christopher B. Dalbey, Robin L. Greenwald, James J. Bilsborrow, New York, NY, Attorneys for Plaintiffs in Wood, et al. v. Lenovo (United States) Inc., et al.
FARMER, JAFFE, WEISSING, EDWARDS, FISTOS & LEHRMAN, P.L. Seth M. Lehrman, Steven R. Jaffe, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Attorneys for Plaintiff in Behren, et al. v. Lenovo (United States) Inc., et al.
STUEVE SIEGEL HANSON LLP Jason S. Hartley, San Diego, CA, STUEVE SIEGEL HANSON LLP Norman E. Siegel, Barrett J. Vahle, Kansas City, MO, Attorneys for Plaintiffs in Ravencamp v. Lenovo (United States) Inc., et al.
SAVERI & SAVERI, INC. Cadio Zirpoli, Carl N. Hammarskjold, San Francisco, CA, Attorneys for Plaintiffs in Schultz v. Lenovo Group Limited, et al.
LAW OFFICES OF DOUGLAS J. CAMPION, APC Douglas J. Campion, San Diego, California, Attorney for Plaintiff in Kim v. Lenovo (United States) Inc., et al.
KAZEROUNI LAW GROUP, APC Abbas Kazerounian, Mona Amini, Costa Mesa, California, HYDE & SWIGART Joshua B. Swigart, San Diego, California, Attorneys for Plaintiffs in Wong et al. v. Lenovo (United States) Inc., et al.
THE ROSEN LAW FIRM, P.A. Laurence M. Rosen, Los Angeles, CA, THE ROSEN LAW FIRM, P.A. Phillip Kim, New York, NY, Attorneys for Plaintiffs in Cullifer et al. v. Superfish, Inc., et al.
CONSUMER LAW PRACTICE OF DANIEL T. LEBEL Daniel T. LeBel, San Francisco, CA, Attorneys for Plaintiff in Khazak v. Superfish, Inc., et al.
JOSEPH SAVERI LAW FIRM, INC. Joseph R. Saveri, Kevin E. Rayhill, San Francisco, California, KARON LLC Daniel R. Karon, Beau D. Hollowell, Cleveland, Ohio, HEINS MILLS & OLSON PLC Vincent J. Esades, James W. Anderson, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Attorneys for Plaintiff in Babbitt v. Lenovo (United States) Inc., et al.
FENWICK & WEST LLP Rodger R. Cole, Mountain View, CA, Counsel for Defendant Superfish, Inc.
K&L GATES LLP Daniel J. Stephenson, Los Angeles, California, Counsel for Defendant Lenovo (United States), Inc.
STIPULATION AND ORDER RE SCHEDULE FOR APPOINTMENT OF INTERIM CLASS COUNSEL PURSUANT TO FED. R. CIV. P. 23(g)
RONALD M. WHYTE, District Judge.
WHEREAS the above-referenced plaintiffs filed the 17 above-captioned cases, asserting individual and class claims on behalf of purchasers of notebook computers manufactured by defendant Lenovo containing software manufactured by defendant Superfish;
WHEREAS ten other putative class actions have been filed in federal district courts throughout the United States asserting similar claims against the same defendants;
WHEREAS on June 8, 2015, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ("JPML") centralized all 27 of the above-referenced actions and transferred them to this Court for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings as In re: Lenovo Adware Litigation, MDL No. 2624;
WHEREAS only certain of the ten Lenovo actions filed outside the Northern District of California have been transferred to this Court pursuant to the JPML's June 8, 2015 Transfer Order;
WHEREAS a case management conference was previously set for June 19, 2015, but subsequently vacated by this Court's May 12, 2015 Order Granting Motion for Stay, which provided that the case management conference would be reset by the Court if the litigation remained before the Court after the JPML ruled;
WHEREAS plaintiffs in the 27 actions that are now part of the In re: Lenovo Adware Litigation have conferred and agree that interim class counsel should be designated pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(g)(3) to clarify "responsibility for protecting the interests of the class during precertification activities, such as making and responding to motions, conducting any necessary discovery, moving for class certifications, and negotiating settlement." Manual for Complex Litigation (Fourth) § 21.11 (2004);
WHEREAS, plaintiffs in the Lenovo actions filed outside the Northern District of California that have not yet been transferred to this Court have expressly authorized the undersigned counsel to represent to the Court that they concur in and agree to be bound by this stipulation;
WHEREAS defendants take no position on what law firm(s) should be appointed interim class counsel, but agree that interim class counsel should be appointed expeditiously to allow the litigation to proceed in an orderly and efficient manner;
WHEREAS all parties agree that interim class counsel should be appointed by the Court sufficiently in advance of the initial case management conference to allow time for all the parties to adequately prepare for that conference.
NOW THEREFORE, the above-referenced plaintiffs and defendants Lenovo and Superfish, by and through their respective counsel of record, hereby stipulate as follows:
1. Any law firm(s) seeking to be appointed interim class counsel for plaintiffs in the In re Lenovo Adware Litigation shall file moving papers on June 23, 2015;
2. Responses shall be filed on July 7, 2015;
3. Replies, if permitted by the Court, shall be filed by 5:00 pm on July 13, 2015;
4. If there are competing motions for appointment of interim class counsel, a hearing shall be held at 9:00 a.m. on July 17, 2015, or as soon thereafter as the Court is available; and
5. The initial case management conference shall be scheduled at the Court's convenience to follow the appointment of interim class counsel.
ORDER
Pursuant to Stipulation, it is SO ORDERED.