Parrish et al v. National Football League Players Incorporated

Filing 219

Declaration of Ronald S. Katz in Support of 217 MOTION to Certify Class -- Plaintiffs' Notice of Motion and Motion for Class Certification and Brief in Support Thereof filed byBernard Paul Parrish, Walter Roberts, III, Herbert Anthony Adderley. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A)(Related document(s) 217 ) (Hilbert, Ryan) (Filed on 3/14/2008)

Parrish et al v. National Football League Players Incorporated

Doc. 219

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MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP
A T T O R N E Y S A T LAW PALO A L T O

MANATT, PHELPS & PHILLIPS, LLP RONALD S. KATZ (Bar No. CA 085713) E-mail: [e-mail] RYAN S. HILBERT (California Bar No. 210549) E-mail: [e-mail] NOEL S. COHEN (California Bar No. 219645) E-mail: [e-mail] 1001 Page Mill Road, Building 2 Palo Alto, CA 94304-1006 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] McKOOL SMITH, P.C. LEWIS T. LECLAIR (Bar No. CA 077136) E-mail: [e-mail] JILL ADLER NAYLOR (Bar No. CA 150783) E-mail: [e-mail] 300 Crescent Court, Suite 1500 Dallas, TX 75201 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] Attorneys for Plaintiffs

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

BERNARD PAUL PARRISH, and HERBERT ANTHONY ADDERLEY, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs vs. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PLAYERS ASSOCIATION, a Virginia corporation, and NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PLAYERS INCORPORATED d/b/a PLAYERS INC, a Virginia corporation, Defendants.

CIVIL ACTION NO. C07 0943 WHA

DECLARATION OF RONALD S. KATZ IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

Date: April 24, 2008 Time: 8:00 a.m. Place: Courtroom 9, 19th Floor Judge: Hon. William H. Alsup

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DECLARATION OF RONALD S. KATZ ISO MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION CASE NO. C07 0943 WHA

Dockets.Justia.com

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I, Ronald S. Katz, declare as follows: 1. I am a partner with Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, L.L.P., ("Manatt") counsel of

record for Plaintiffs Herbert Adderley and Bernard Parrish in this matter. I have personal knowledge of the matters stated herein. 2. Attached hereto as Exhibit A is a true and correct copy of a declaration (with

exhibits) I filed in this case on February 20, 2007 in support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Interim Class Counsel (the "February 20, 2007 Declaration"). 3. Since the time of my February 20, 2007 Declaration, I have had frequent

communications with Bernard Parrish and Herbert Adderley regarding this litigation. Messrs. Parrish and Adderley have repeatedly communicated to me that they are very interested in this litigation and wish to serve as named Plaintiffs. They also have participated in this case and pursued their roles as class representatives with vigor. 4. I have reviewed every complaint in this action with Mr. Parrish and Mr. Adderley.

Mr. Parrish and Mr. Adderley have approved every complaint Plaintiffs have filed in this action. In the case of the Third Amended Complaint ("TAC"), I was able to review with Messrs. Parrish and Adderley only the public version of the TAC because Defendants had designated certain materials as confidential as to the Plaintiffs pursuant to the Protective Order in this matter. 5. Since the time of my February 20, 2007 Declaration, I also have reviewed

countless documents from both the parties and third parties, engaged economic experts, and conducted or attended several party and third-party depositions, including the depositions of Joel Linzer of Electronic Arts, Glenn Eyrich (Defendants' 30(b)(6) witness on financial and auditing matters), Plaintiff Herbert Adderley, Gene Upshaw (Executive Director of the NFLPA and Chairman of Players Inc.), and Margaret Parrish (the 30(b)(6) designee of Retired Professional Football Players for Justice). I am currently scheduled to defend Mr. Parrish at his deposition on March 13, 2008. I have also had many additional meetings with Messrs. Parrish and Adderley. 6. To date, Manatt has spent time worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in

representation of Plaintiffs in this action. Manatt is willing and able to expend whatever resources (both financial and non-financial) are needed in the future, and to aggressively pursue
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DECLARATION OF RONALD S. KATZ ISO MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION CASE NO. C07 0943 WHA

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this action. I declare under penalty of perjury and the laws of the United States that the foregoing is true and correct and that this declaration was executed on March 13, 2008. __/s/Ronald S. Katz_____________ Ronald S. Katz

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DECLARATION OF RONALD S. KATZ ISO MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION CASE NO. C07 0943 WHA