Cats and Dogs Animal Hospital, Inc. v. Yelp! Inc.

Filing 16

EX PARTE APPLICATION to Reassign Case No. 2:10-cv-01578 to the Hon. Valerie Baker Fairbank, EX PARTE APPLICATION to Consolidate Cases, as to No. 2:10-cv-01578,, EX PARTE APPLICATION for Appointment of Counsel for the Classes filed by plaintiff Cats and Dogs Animal Hospital, Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Order on Plaintiffs' ex parte motion, # 2 Declaration of Gregory S. Weston, # 3 Exhibit A-E to Declaration of Gregory S. Weston, # 4 Declaration of Jack Fitzgerald, # 5 Declaration of Jared H. Beck, # 6 Declaration of Elizabeth Lee Beck)(Weston, Gregory)

1 THE WESTON FIRM 2 GREGORY S. WESTON (239944) 3 888 Turquoise Street 4 San Diego, CA 92109

JACK FITZGERALD (257370)

5 Telephone: [phone] [e-mail] 7 [e-mail] 8 9 Counsel for Plaintiff and the Proposed Class 10 11

Facsimile: [phone]

BECK & LEE BUSINESS TRIAL LAWYERS JARED H. BECK (233743) ELIZABETH LEE BECK (233742) Courthouse Plaza Building 28 West Flagler Street, Suite 555 Miami, FL 33130 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] [e-mail] [e-mail]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA Case No.: 2:10-cv-01340 VBF SS Pleading Type: Class Action DECLARATION OF JACK FITZGERALD IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' EX PARTE MOTION FOR REASSIGNMENT, CONSOLIDATION, DESIGNATION OF LEAD CASE, AND APPOINTMENT OF INTERIM LEAD COUNSEL Judge: The Hon. Valerie Baker Fairbank

12 CATS AND DOGS ANIMAL 13 HOSPITAL, INC.; ASTRO 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 YELP! INC., 28 29 30

APPLIANCE SERVICE; BLEEDING HEART, LLC d/b/a BLEEDING HEART BAKERY; CALIFORNIA FURNISHINGS, INC. d/b/a SOFA OUTLET; CELIBRÉ, INC.; J.L. FERRI ENTERTAINMENT, INC. d/b/a ADULT SOCIALS; LE PETITE RETREAT DAY SPA, LLC; SAN FRANCISCO BAY BOAT CRUISES, LLC d/b/a MERMAIDS CRUISE; WAG MY TAIL, INC.; and ZODIAC RESTAURANT GROUP, INC. d/b/a SCION RESTAURANT, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v.

Defendant.

DECLARATION OF JACK FITZGERALD IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' EX PARTE MOTION FOR REASSIGNMENT, CONSOLIDATION, DESIGNATION OF LEAD CASE, AND APPOINTMENT OF INTERIM CLASS COUNSEL

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I, Jack Fitzgerald, declare: 1. My name is Jack Fitzgerald. I am a member in good standing of the

3 state bars of California and New York, of the United States District Courts for the 4 Northern, Central and Southern Districts of California, the Southern and Eastern 5 Districts of New York, and of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth 6 Circuit. 7 2. Before joining The Weston Firm, I was associated with the law firms 8 of Baker & Hostetler, LLP, in New York, New York, and Mayer Brown LLP in 9 Palo Alto, California. While at Mayer Brown, I served as defense counsel in the 10 class action In Re: Openwave Securities Systems, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 0711 cv-1309 (S.D.N.Y.). While at both Baker & Hostetler and Mayer Brown, my 12 practice has always focused on large-scale, complex litigation including, for 13 example, representing plaintiffs asserting antitrust and false advertising claims 14 against various telephone calling card manufacturers. 15 17 3. 4. I am a graduate of Cornell University and New York University Following our filing on February 23, 2010 of the first Complaint 16 School of Law, where I was an editor of the New York University Law Review. 18 against Yelp, my firm and Beck & Lee Business Trial Lawyers have been 19 contacted by more than 150 other small business owners with stories similar to Dr. 20 Perrault's. The firms continue to receive numerous inquires each day. 21 5. Our firm and Beck & Lee spent substantial time interviewing these 22 small business owners, and preparing the First Amended Class Action Complaint 23 ("Amended Complaint"), which was filed on March 16. The Amended Complaint 24 added a great amount of detail concerning Yelp's unlawful business practices, 25 included several more claims for relief, and named nine additional small business 26 representative plaintiffs. 27
1 DECLARATION OF JACK FITZGERALD IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' EX PARTE MOTION FOR REASSIGNMENT, CONSOLIDATION, DESIGNATION OF LEAD CASE, AND APPOINTMENT OF INTERIM CLASS COUNSEL

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6.

Since February, when the Proposed Interim Class Counsel filed the

2 First Complaint, counsel have, among other things: · Filed a detailed 39-page Amended Complaint; · Conferred with Yelp's counsel and stipulated to extend Yelp's time to respond; · Conferred with Yelp's counsel, including in person in San Francisco on March 18, on case management issues; · Scheduled a Rule 26(f) discovery conference with Yelp for April 8; · Conferred with Yelp's counsel on issues of class certification, proposed injunctive relief, and electronic discovery; and · Begun drafting Rule 26 disclosures. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California

13 and the United States that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed in Santa Clara, California on March 24, 2010.

/s/ Jack Fitzgerald Jack Fitzgerald

2 DECLARATION OF JACK FITZGERALD IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' EX PARTE MOTION FOR REASSIGNMENT, CONSOLIDATION, DESIGNATION OF LEAD CASE, AND APPOINTMENT OF INTERIM CLASS COUNSEL

1 DATED: March 24, 2010 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Respectfully submitted, s/Gregory S. Weston THE WESTON FIRM Gregory S. Weston 888 Turquoise Street San Diego, CA 92109 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: 480 247 4553 BECK & LEE BUSINESS TRIAL LAWYERS Jared H. Beck Elizabeth Lee Beck 28 West Flagler Street, Suite 555 Miami, FL 33130 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: 786 664 3334 Counsel for Cats and Dogs Plaintiffs

3 DECLARATION OF JACK FITZGERALD IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' EX PARTE MOTION FOR REASSIGNMENT, CONSOLIDATION, DESIGNATION OF LEAD CASE, AND APPOINTMENT OF INTERIM CLASS COUNSEL