Dillinger v. AT&T Inc

Filing 8

TRANSFER ORDER direcing the transfer of this case to the Northern District of Illinois to become part of MDL No. 1997. Signed by Chairman of Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. (Attachments: # 1 Transfer Letter)(mkf)

Filed: 12/3/08 Lead 08cv7082 Judge: Kennelly Magistrate Judge: Brown
By Jakeia Mells on Dec 03, 2008

UNITED STATES JUDICIAL PANEL on MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION

Dec 03, 2008

IN RE: TEXT MESSAGING ANTITRUST LITIGATION

MDL No. 1997

TRANSFER ORDER Before the entire Panel*: Plaintiffs in actions pending in the Northern District of Illinois, the Eastern District of Louisiana, and the District of District of Columbia have moved, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407, for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings of this litigation as follows: (1) plaintiffs in two Northern District of Illinois actions have moved for centralization in the Northern District of Illinois or, alternatively, the District of New Jersey; (2) plaintiffs in the Eastern District of Louisiana action have moved for centralization in the Eastern District of Louisiana or, alternatively, the Northern District of Ohio; and (3) plaintiff in one District of District of Columbia action has moved for centralization in the District of District of Columbia. Responding plaintiffs and defendants agree that centralization is appropriate and variously support one or more of the suggested transferee districts or the following districts: the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the District of Puerto Rico, or the Western District of Washington. This litigation currently consists of sixteen actions listed on Schedule A and pending in twelve districts: three actions in the Northern District of Illinois; two actions each in the District of District of Columbia and the Southern District of Mississippi; and one action each in the Eastern District of Arkansas, the District of Kansas, the Eastern District of Louisiana, the District of New Jersey, the Northern District of Ohio, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the District of Puerto Rico, the Eastern District of Texas, and the Northern District of Texas. 1 On the basis of the papers filed and hearing session held, we find that these actions involve common questions of fact, and that centralization under Section 1407 in the Northern District of Illinois will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient

*

Judge Motz and Judge Miller did not participate in the disposition of this matter.

The Panel has been notified that fifteen additional related actions have been filed: three actions in the Northern District of Illinois; two actions each in the District of Kansas and the Eastern District of New York; and one action each in the Northern District of Alabama, the District of Arizona, the Northern District of California, the Southern District of Illinois, the Southern District of Mississippi, the District of Nevada, theCOPY-ATTEST A TRUE District of Puerto Rico, and the Western District of MICHAEL W. DOBBINS, tag-along actions. See Rules 7.4 and 7.5, Washington. These actions will be treated as potentialCLERK R.P.J.P.M.L., 199 F.R.D. 425, 435-36s/ WILLIE A. HAYNES By (2001).
DEPUTY CLERK U.S. DISTRICT COURT, NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS DATE: DECEMBER 12, 2008

1

-2conduct of this litigation. These actions share factual questions relating to allegations that defendants conspired to fix, raise, maintain, and stabilize the price of text messaging services sold in the United States in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Centralization under Section 1407 will eliminate duplicative discovery; prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings, especially with respect to class certification; and conserve the resources of the parties, their counsel and the judiciary. We are persuaded that the Northern District of Illinois is an appropriate transferee forum for this litigation. This district, where six actions are now pending, provides a relatively central forum for this nationwide litigation. In addition, Judge Matthew F. Kennelly has the time and experience to steer this docket on a prudent course. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407, the actions listed on Schedule A and pending outside the Northern District of Illinois are transferred to the Northern District of Illinois and, with the consent of that court, assigned to the Honorable Matthew F. Kennelly for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings with the actions pending there.

PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION

____________________________________ John G. Heyburn II Chairman J. Frederick Motz* Kathryn H. Vratil W. Royal Furgeson, Jr. Robert L. Miller, Jr.* David R. Hansen

IN RE: TEXT MESSAGING ANTITRUST LITIGATION

MDL No. 1997

SCHEDULE A Eastern District of Arkansas Tina L. Dillinger v. AT&T, Inc., C.A. No. 4:08-3008 District of District of Columbia Kim A. Cosgrove v. Verizon Wireless, et al., C.A. No. 1:08-1575 Marie Fernandez v. Verizon Wireless, et al., C.A. No. 1:08-1621 Northern District of Illinois Vaughanzella Smith-Howard, et al. v. AT&T, Inc., et al., C.A. No. 1:08-5198 Kevin Konkel, et al. v. AT&T, Inc., et al., C.A. No. 1:08-5353 Mathieu Brousseau, et al. v. AT&T, Inc., et al., C.A. No. 1:08-5401 District of Kansas Lourdes Leslie v. Sprint Nextel Corp., et al., C.A. No. 2:08-2432 Eastern District of Louisiana Andee Roussel, et al. v. AT&T Mobility, LLC, et al., C.A. No. 2:08-4408 Southern District of Mississippi Rodney Cain v. AT&T Mobility, LLC, et al., C.A. No. 1:08-632 Kenny Knight, et al. v. AT&T Mobility LLC, et al., C.A. No. 3:08-592 District of New Jersey Cuneo-Leider Management & Development Corp. v. Verizon Wireless, et al., C.A. No. 3:08-4621 Northern District of Ohio Susan Orians, et al. v. AT&T, Inc., et al., C.A. No. 3:08-2191 08cv7091 08cv7090 08cv7088 08cv7089 08cv7087 08cv7086 08cv7083

08cv7084 08cv7085

- A2 -

MDL No. 1997 Schedule A (Continued) Eastern District of Pennsylvania 08cv7092 Mark Reinhart v. Verizon Wireless, Inc., et al., C.A. No. 5:08-4607 District of Puerto Rico Luis A. Maldonado-Mercado v. Verizon Wireless, Inc., et al., C.A. No. 3:08-2100 Eastern District of Texas Joseph F. Clark v. Verizon Wireless, et al., C.A. No. 1:08-549 Northern District of Texas Christiane Trujillo v. Verizon Wireless, et al., C.A. No. 3:08-1628 08cv7095 08cv7094 08cv7093

Printed on 12/03/2008

Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation - Panel Attorney Service List for MDL 1997 - IN RE: Text Messaging Antitrust Litigation

*** Report Key and Title Page ***

Please Note: This report is in alphabetical order by the last name of the attorney. A party may not be represented by more then one attorney. See Panel rule 5.2(c).

Party Representation Key * Signifies that an appearance was made on behalf of the party by the representing attorney. # Specified party was dismissed in some, but not all, of the actions in which it was named as a party. All counsel and parties no longer active in this litigation have been suppressed. This Report is Based on the Following Data Filters Docket: 1997 - Text Messaging AT For Open Cases

Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation - Panel Attorney Service List
Docket: 1997 - IN RE: Text Messaging Antitrust Litigation Status: Transferred on 12/03/2008 Transferee District: ILN ATTORNEY - FIRM
ALLTEL Corp., One Allied Drive Little Rock, AR 72202

Page 1

Judge: Kennelly, Matthew F. REPRESENTED PARTY(S)

Printed on 12/03/2008

=>
ALLTEL Corp.

Becnel, Jr, Daniel E. BECNEL LAW FIRM LLC 106 West Seventh Street P.O. Drawer H Reserve, LA 70084

=> Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Hotard, Katie*; Roussel, Andee*

Butswinkas, Dane H. WILLIAMS & CONNELLY LLP 725 12th Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20005

=> Phone: [phone]
Sprint Nextel Corp.*

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Clobes, Bryan L. CAFFERTY FAUCHER LLP 1717 Arch Street Suite 3610 Philadelphia, PA 19103

=> Phone: [phone]
Dolatowski, Kathryn*

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Coffman, Richard L. COFFMAN LAW FIRM First City Building 505 Orleans Street Suite 505 Beaumont, TX 77701

=> Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Clark, Joseph F.*; Trujillo, Christiane*

Fait, Mary Jane WOLF HALDENSTEIN ADLER FREEMAN & HERZ LLC 55 West Monroe Street Suite 1111 Chicago, IL 60603

=> Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Marshall, Julian*; Polk, Rita*; Polk-Stamps, Melanie*; Smith-Howard, Vaughanzella*

Frederick, Thomas J. WINSTON & STRAWN LLP 35 West Wacker Drive, 45th Floor Chicago, IL 60601

=> Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Cellco Partnership dba Verizon Wireless*; Verizon Communications, Inc.*

Germaine, David P. VANEK VICKERS & MASINI PC 111 South Wacker Drive Suite 4050 Chicago, IL 60606

=> Phone: [phone]
Fernandez, Marie*

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Hockett, Christopher B. DAVIS POLK & WARDWELL 1600 El Camino Real Menlo Park, CA 94025

=> Phone: [phone]
T-Mobile USA, Inc.*

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Note: Please refer to the report title page for complete report scope and key.

(Panel Attorney Service List for MDL 1,997 Continued)

Page 2

ATTORNEY - FIRM
Kilsheimer, Richard J. KAPLAN FOX & KILSHEIMER LLP 850 Third Avenue 14th Floor New York, NY 10022

REPRESENTED PARTY(S)

=> Phone: [phone]
Cosgrove, Kim A.*

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Love, Kevin Bruce CRIDEN & LOVE PA 7301 S.W. 57th Court Suite 515 South Miami, FL 33143

=> Phone: [phone]
Leslie, Lourdes*

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Lovell, Christopher LOVELL STEWART HALEBIAN LLP 500 Fifth Avenue Floor 58 New York, NY 10110

=> Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Cuneo-Leider Management & Development Corp.*

Miller, Marvin Allen MILLER LAW LLC 115 South LaSalle Street Suite 2910 Chicago, IL 60603

=> Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Brousseau, Mathieu; Konkel, Kevin; McLaughlin, Laurie; Premiere Investment Consulting; Robb, Jeffrey; Smith, Elizabeth

Nast, Dianne M. RODANAST PC 801 Estelle Drive Lancaster, PA 17601

=> Phone: [phone]
Reinhart, Mark*

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Penton, Ronnie G. LAW OFFICE OF RONNIE G PENTON 209 Hoppen Place Bogalusa, LA 70427

=> Phone: [phone]
Cain, Rodney*

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Poynter, Scott E. EMERSON POYNTER LLP The Museum Center 500 President Clinton Avenue Suite 305 Little Rock, AR 72201

=> Phone: [phone]
Dillinger, Tina L.*

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Salas, III, Camilo K. SALAS & CO LC 650 Poydras Street Suite 1660 New Orleans, LA 70130

=> Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Maldonado-Mercado, Luis A.*

Sweet, III, Dennis C. WILLIAMS GRUBBS 158 E. Pascagoula Street Jackson, MS 39201

=> Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone] Knight, Kenny*; Williams, Bonnie*

Note: Please refer to the report title page for complete report scope and key.

(Panel Attorney Service List for MDL 1,997 Continued)

Page 3

ATTORNEY - FIRM
T-Mobile International AG, Landgrabenweg 151 53227 Bonn, Germany

REPRESENTED PARTY(S)

=>
T-Mobile International AG

Treece, John W. SIDLEY AUSTIN LLP One South Dearborn Street Chicago, IL 60603

=> Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] AT&T Mobility, LLC*; AT&T, Inc.*

Verizon Wireless, One Verizon Way Basking Ridge, NJ 07920

=>
Verizon Wireless; Verizon Wireless, Inc.

Vodafone Group PLC, Vodafone House The Connections Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2FN England

=>
Vodafone Group PLC

Zoll, David W. ZOLL KRANZ & BORGESS LLC 6620 West Central Avenue Suite 200 Toledo, OH 43617

=> Phone: [phone]
Weaver, Brandon*

Fax: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Flores, Zac*; Kastel, Kim*; Kastel, Kristen*; Keener, Mecca*; Orians, Susan*; Reaster, James*;

Note: Please refer to the report title page for complete report scope and key.