MMCA Group Ltd. v. Hewlett-Packard Company et al

Filing 345

ORDER EXTENDING DEADLINES. The dispositive motions filing cutoff is continued to July 24, 2009; the pretrial conference is continued to September 29, 2009; the jury trial is continued to October 19, 2009. The deadlines to complete discovery are continued as set forth in the parties' stipulation filed September 19, 2008. Signed by Judge Maxine M. Chesney on September 23, 2008. (mmclc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 9/23/2008)

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Bingham McCutchen LLP WILLIAM F. ABRAMS (SBN 88805) [e-mail] DAVID S. CANNON (SBN 209501) [e-mail] KRISTEN A. PALUMBO (SBN 215857) [e-mail] ERIN A. SMART (SBN 246288) [e-mail] 1900 University Avenue East Palo Alto, CA 94303-2223 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: 650.849.4800 Attorneys for Defendant Hewlett-Packard Company UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

12 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 13 SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 14 15 MMCA GROUP LTD., a Virginia corporation, 16 Plaintiff, 17 v. 18 19 20 Defendants. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
C-06-7067 MMC (EMC)

No. C-06-7067 MMC (EMC) STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER CHANGING DEADLINES [Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 6(b), Civil L.R. 6-1, 6-2, 7-1, 7-12] [No Hearing Required] Judge: Hon. Maxine M. Chesney

HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY, a Delaware corporation, PICA CORPORATION, an Ohio corporation,

STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER CHANGING DEADLINES
A/72658654.1/2007550-0000323151

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I.

INTRODUCTION Plaintiff MMCA Group Ltd. ("MMCA") and defendants Hewlett-Packard

Company ("HP") and PICA Corporation ("PICA") respectfully submit this stipulation and [proposed] order pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(b) and Civil Local Rules 6-1, 62, 7-1, and 7-12 requesting that the Court extend the deadlines in the June 9, 2008 Amended Pretrial Preparation Order (Docket 255) as follows: Non-Expert Discovery Cutoff April 30, 2009 (currently October 17, 2008) Expert Designations May 21, 2009 (currently November 7, 2008) June 4, 2009 (currently November 21, 2008) June 25, 2009 (currently December 12, 2008) July 23, 2009 (currently January 9, 2009) September 28, 2009 (currently March 17, 2009) Jury Trial Date October 13, 2009 (currently March 30, 2009)

Rebuttal Expert Designations

Expert Discovery Cutoff Dispositive Motions Cutoff Pretrial Conference Date

The parties are available for a Further Status Conference to discuss this proposed schedule and the issues below on September 26 or October 3, 2009, if the Court so requests. II. BACKGROUND In May, 2009, the parties agreed that discovery could not be completed under the then current schedule. On June 9, 2008 the Court granted the parties' request for an extension of the case schedule. Docket 255. Further delays -- most related to document production issues -have since developed. First, on June 25, 2008 PICA and former defendants Pinkerton Consulting &

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Investigations, Inc. and Business Risks International, Ltd. moved for a protective order preventing HP from producing documents they claimed were confidential.1 Docket 264. Resolution of this issue required extensive meet and confer efforts, court intervention and an order requiring blanket "Attorney's Eyes Only" ("AEO") designation under the applicable Protective Order for the vast majority of HP's documents (plus provision of additional security procedures). Docket 287, 309. HP has since produced these documents (with the AEO designations and security measures in place) and has produced over 20,000 documents in total. Declaration of Erin A. Smart in Support of Stipulated Request to Extend Deadlines ("Smart Decl.") ¶ 2. The parties agree that many of the documents subject to the blanket AEO designation may not qualify as AEO and that extensive meet and confer efforts may be necessary to de-designate them to "Confidential" status. HP is also reviewing a further set of documents and anticipates completing its production from this set by September 30. Id. Second, on June 23, 2008 HP notified MMCA that MMCA's document production contained privileged material of both MMCA and HP. Smart Decl., ¶ 3. HP ceased review of MMCA's production and requested the other receiving parties do the same. Id. Meanwhile, MMCA re-reviewed its production for privilege. On September 19, 2008, HP received a list of the documents MMCA believes are MMCA privileged in its prior production, and a list of the documents that MMCA believes HP would assert are HP privileged in its prior production. Smart Decl. ¶ 4. HP will shortly begin its review of the remaining material in MMCA's production. MMCA has indicated that meet and confer efforts will be required regarding the documents it believes HP would assert are HP privileged, that follow-up work to de-designate certain of those documents from privileged status may be required, and that there are approximately 8,000 such documents in MMCA's prior production. MMCA also has additional documents it expects to produce in the coming weeks.

MMCA, PICA, and PC&I/BRI are investigative services companies who have worked for HP in various regions of the world. Throughout these relationships, HP and the other parties exchanged confidential and/or privileged information, some of which is relevant to this litigation. 3
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PICA produced documents on May 15, 2008. Smart Decl. ¶ 5. Counsel for MMCA and for PICA are meeting and conferring about the sufficiency of PICA's production. MMCA has indicated that motion practice may be necessary with respect to PICA's production. PICA disagrees. PICA has also indicated that it may also move to compel on interrogatory responses received from MMCA. No depositions have yet occurred as document productions are not complete. Smart Decl. ¶ 6. The parties expect to need at least four to six weeks after document productions have been completed to prepare for depositions as tens of thousands of documents will have been produced. Smart Decl. ¶ 7. The parties have agreed to a general schedule of depositions with those of MMCA witnesses starting in December or January, followed by depositions of defendants' witnesses and then any necessary follow-up depositions. Based on the documents produced thus far, the parties believe there will be need for depositions of foreign witnesses, which will require additional time to effectuate service and otherwise comply with international agreements governing such depositions in foreign countries. III. GOOD CAUSE EXISTS TO GRANT THE REQUESTED ENLARGEMENT OF TIME Under the current schedule the parties cannot complete discovery by the October 17, 2008 cutoff. The parties have made significant progress but need further time to complete

18 document productions and related issues. The parties have created the above proposed schedule 19 to allow them to complete document productions and then depositions -- including numerous 20 possible foreign depositions -- in an orderly manner. Granting the parties' requested extension 21 will allow this and will facilitate resolution of this case upon the merits. 22 23 24 the schedule in this case as follows: 25 26 27 28 4
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IV.

CONCLUSION For the reasons discussed above the parties respectfully request the Court adjust

STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER CHANGING DEADLINES

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Non-Expert Discovery Cutoff Expert Designations Rebuttal Expert Designations Expert Discovery Cutoff Dispositive Motions Cutoff Pretrial Conference Date Jury Trial Date

April 30, 2009 May 21, 2009 June 4, 2009 June 25, 2009 July 23, 2009 September 28, 2009 October 13, 2009

DATED: September 19, 2008 By: /s/ William F. Abrams William F. Abrams BINGHAM MCCUTCHEN LLP 1900 University Avenue East Palo Alto, CA 94303 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY DATED: September 19, 2008

By: Donald S. Simon WENDEL, ROSEN, BLACK & DEAN, LLP 1111 Broadway, 24th Floor Oakland, CA 94607 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant PICA CORPORATION

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[Proposed] Order Extending Deadlines IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the schedule in the case is modified as follows: Non-Expert Discovery Cutoff April 30, 2009 May 21, 2009 June 4, 2009 June 25, 2009 24 July 23, 2009 29 September 28, 2009 19 October 13, 2009

4 Expert Designations 5 Rebuttal Expert Designations 6 7 8 Pretrial Conference Date 9 Jury Trial Date 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 7
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Expert Discovery Cutoff Filing Dispositive Motions Cutoff

PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED. as amended. No further modifications of the trial/pretrial schedule will be granted in the absence of a court appearance.

September 23 Dated: __________________________, 2008
________________________________ Hon. Maxine M. Chesney United States District Judge

STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED] ORDER CHANGING DEADLINES