Whalen v. Ford Motor Company

Filing 110

ORDER RESETTING CMC. Further Case Management Conference set for 10/16/2014 10:30 AM in Courtroom 5, 17th Floor, San Francisco. Case Management Statement due by 10/9/2014.. Signed by Judge Edward M. Chen on 8/7/14. (bpf, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 8/7/2014)

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Steve W. Berman, (pro hac vice)
Catherine Y.N. Gannon (pro hac vice)
HAGENS BERMAN SOBOL SHAPIRO LLP
1918 Eighth Avenue, Suite 3300
Seattle, WA 98101
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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Jeff D. Friedman (CSB No. 173886)
Shana E. Scarlett (CSB No. 217895)
HAGENS BERMAN SOBOL SHAPIRO LLP
715 Hearst Avenue, Suite 202
Berkeley, CA 94710
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Plaintiffs’ Interim Co-Lead Counsel

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[Additional Counsel listed on Signature Page]

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

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IN RE

No. 3-13-cv-3072-EMC

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MYFORD TOUCH CONSUMER
LITIGATION

JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT
STATEMENT

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Date: August 14, 2014
Time: 10:30 A.M.
Courtroom: 5, 17th Floor

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Judge: Hon. Edward M. Chen

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JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
Case No.: 13-cv-3072-EMC
010388-11 709737 V1

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I.

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INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
Pursuant to the Court’s Minute Entry (Dkt. No. 99) and the Standing Order for

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all Judges of the Northern District of California, counsel for the parties respectfully

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submit this Updated Joint Case Management Statement. This is the fifth Case

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Management Statement; four previous statements were filed with the Court on

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October 3, 2013 (Dkt. No. 33); January 16, 2014 (Dkt. No. 58); April 17, 2014 (Dkt.

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No. 82); and June 5, 2014 (Dkt. No. 98). This Updated Joint Case Management

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Statement is intended to inform the Court on the status of the pleadings and discovery,

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and to request a postponement of the case management conference by sixty (60) days

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until October 14, 2014.

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II.

JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

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A.

Motions

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On January 13, 2014 Ford filed its Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. No. 56). Plaintiffs

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filed a Memorandum in Opposition on February 21, 2014 (Dkt. No. 69) and Ford filed

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its Reply on March 14, 2014 (Dkt. No. 72). On May 30, 2014 this Court rendered a

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decision granting in part and denying in part Ford’s Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. No. 97).

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Plaintiffs will not amend the First Amended Complaint (FAC) and will proceed based

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on the surviving claims. On June 16, 2014, Plaintiff Megan Raney-Aarons filed a

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notice of voluntarily dismissal (Dkt. No. 100). Defendant Ford filed an Answer to the

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FAC on July 18, 2014 (Dkt. No. 106).

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III.

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STATUS OF DISCOVERY
As previously reported (see Dkt. No. 98), the parties participated in a Rule 26(f)

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conference and exchanged their initial disclosures, pursuant to Rule 26(a).

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A.

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Production Agreements
The parties have agreed upon the format of production, including Electronically

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Stored Information (“ESI”) protocols. The parties have also negotiated a general

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protective order, which this Court ordered on May 16, 2014 (Dkt. No. 96). The parties

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JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
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are in the final phases of negotiating a second protective order that would pertain to

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highly confidential information, such as source code data.

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B.

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Productions
Ford has so far produced more than 437,500 pages of emails and documents

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from 13 custodians and more than 246,000 pages of documents from Ford’s warranty

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reimbursement and technical contact databases. Ford will continue its rolling

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production. To date, Ford has made the following productions:

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• Documents pertaining to the named Plaintiffs’ vehicles and warranty
history (04/03/2014);
• Showroom brochures, owners’ manuals, and warranty guides
(04/15/2014);

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• Additional showroom brochures, owners’ manuals, and warranty guides,
as well as print/video advertising (5/22/2014);

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• Special Service Messages and Technical Service Bulletins (5/27/2014);

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• Email and other documents maintained by Document Custodian J. Bragg
(5/30/2014);

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• Email and other documents maintained by Document Custodian B. Krein
(6/5/2014);
• Email and other documents maintained by Document Custodian S.
Parsons (6/13/2014);
• Email and other documents maintained by Document Custodian R.
Englert (7/3/2014);
• Ford warranty reimbursement records/data (AWS reports) and technical
contacts (CQIS reports) (6/19/2014 and 7/16/2014);
• Email and other documents maintained by Document Custodians N.
Gabrielli and M. Schanerberger (7/22/2014); and

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• Email and other documents maintained by Document Custodians H.
Ahmed; K. Christianson; H. Elzein; F. Frischmuth; M. Fromman; K.
Goebel; J. Green (8/5/2014).

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Since June 5, 2014 Plaintiffs have made two productions in response to Ford’s

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discovery requests. The first production was made on June 27, 2014 and the second

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JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
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production was made on July 29, 2014. A third production is scheduled for August

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2014 and Plaintiffs will continue to make supplemental productions as soon as

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practicable. Non-Party, Microsoft Corporation, also made a production on June 24,

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2014.

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On July 28, 2014 Plaintiff Avedisian served his Supplemental Responses and

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Objections to Ford’s First Set of Interrogatories. Plaintiffs also informed Ford on July

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28, 2014 that Plaintiffs Zuchowksi, Battle and Ervin intend to serve interrogatory

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responses as soon as practicable. For various personal reasons, Plaintiffs have not been

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able to locate information responsive to all of Ford’s discovery requests. Plaintiffs

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have stated that they intend to produce these interrogatory responses by August 31,

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2014.

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C.

Plaintiffs’ Second Set of Requests for Production

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On February 26, 2014, Plaintiffs served Ford with a Second Set of Requests for

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Production of Documents. The documents requested relate to press reports suggesting

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that Ford will base the next generation of MFT systems on Blackberry’s QNX

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software, and include any communications with Blackberry regarding the Microsoft-

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based MFT system, as well as, any documents that reflect key differences in properties

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between Blackberry’s QNX and Microsoft’s MFT systems. On April 1, 2014 Ford

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served its Responses and Objections to Plaintiffs’ Second Set of Requests for

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Production of Documents. On May 27, 2014 Ford communicated that it intends to

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stand on its objections of relevancy and burden, but will make an effort to keep

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looking for responsive documents. Plaintiffs continue to believe that the Second Set of

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Requests for Production of Documents seeks relevant documents that the collection

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and production of which would impose no unusual burden upon Ford. Ford does not

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believe that the documents sought are relevant because they seek information

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concerning Ford’s on-going commercial and business relationships with its suppliers

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pertaining to future model year vehicles and technology that is not installed in any

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JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
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current Ford or Lincoln production vehicle, nor is it installed in any putative Subject

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Vehicle. The parties have met and conferred in person and multiple times by telephone

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and email. Unfortunately, however, the parties have been unable to resolve this issue

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at this time. While the parties are hopeful that an agreement will be reached soon, they

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also anticipate that motion practice may be required to resolve this dispute.

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D.

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Vehicle Inspection Protocol
The parties are in the final phases of negotiating a Vehicle Inspection Protocol

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which shall apply to any and all Class Vehicles owned or leased by any Named

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Plaintiff in this action at the time the Protocol is executed.

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The parties will continue to work cooperatively to ensure the efficient and

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timely exchange of documents and do not believe there are any disputes that require

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the Court’s assistance at this time.

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IV.

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POSTPONEMENT OF CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
As noted above, the parties are nearing an agreement regarding the production

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of highly confidential information, such as source code data. Experts will then be

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provided with an opportunity to review this type of information and their findings will

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provide considerable guidance to all parties regarding the scheduling of a full motion

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and trial schedule. As such, all parties request postponing the Case Management

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Conference by sixty (60) days, to October 14, 2014 on the grounds of prematurity. All

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parties anticipate that they will be able to provide the Court with a full discovery and

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trial schedule by October 2014.

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JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
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DATED: August 7, 2014

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HAGENS BERMAN SOBOL SHAPIRO LLP
By

/s/ Steve W. Berman
Steve W. Berman (pro hac vice)
Catherine Y.N. Gannon (pro hac vice)
HAGENS BERMAN SOBOL SHAPIRO LLP
1918 8th Avenue, Suite 3300
Seattle, WA 98101
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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Jeff D. Friedman (173886)
Shana E. Scarlett (217895)
715 Hearst Avenue, Suite 202
Berkeley, CA 94710
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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Adam J. Levitt (pro hac vice)
Kyle McGee (pro hac vice)
GRANT & EISENHOFER P.A.
30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 1200
Chicago, IL 60602
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]

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Roland Tellis (186269)
Mark Pifko (228412)
BARON & BUDD, P.C.
15910 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 1600
Encino, CA 91436
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

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JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
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Joseph G. Sauder (pro hac vice)
Matthew D. Schelkopf (pro hac vice)
CHIMICLES & TIKELLIS LLP
One Haverford Centre
361 West Lancaster Avenue
Haverford, PA 19041
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]

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Plaintiffs’ Interim Co-Lead Counsel

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Randall W. Edwards (179053)
O’MELVENY & MYERS LLP
Two Embarcadero Center, 28th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111-3823
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]

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Janet. L. Conigliaro (pro hac vice)
DYKEMA GOSSETT PLLC
400 Renaissance Center
Detroit, Michigan 48243
Telephone: [phone]
[e-mail]

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Attorneys for Defendant
FORD MOTOR COMPANY

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JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
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ATTESTATION PURSUANT TO LOCAL RULE 5-1(i)(3)
I, Steve W. Berman, am the ECF User whose identification and password are

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being used to file the foregoing document. In compliance with Civil Local Rule 5-

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1(i)(3), I hereby attest that all signatories have concurred in this filing.

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Dated: August 7, 2014
/s/ Steve W. Berman
Steve W. Berman

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JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
Case No.: 13-cv-3072-EMC
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IT IS SO ORDERED that the Further CMC is reset from 8/14/14 to
10/16/14 at 10:30 a.m. An updated joint CMC Statement due 10/9/14.
_____________________
Edward M. Chen
S DISTRICT
TE
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U.S. District Judge
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UNIT
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
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I hereby certify the on August 7, 2014, I electronically filed the foregoing

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document using the CM/ECF system which will send notification of such filing to the

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email addresses registered in the CM/ECF system, as denoted on the Electronic Mail

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Notice List, and I hereby certify that I have caused to be mailed a paper copy of the

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foregoing document via the United States Postal Service to the non-CM/ECF

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participants indicated on the Manual Notice List generated by the CM/ECF system.

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Dated: August 7, 2014

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/s/ Steve W. Berman
Steve W. Berman

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JOINT CASE MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
Case No.: 13-cv-3072-EMC
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