Fiol v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Filing 26

PRETRIAL ORDER No. 1 -- Case Management Conference set for 12/22/2015 at 8:00 AM in Courtroom 6, 17th Floor, San Francisco. Signed by Judge Charles R. Breyer on 12/9/2015. (rcsS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 12/17/2015)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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MDL No. 2672 CRB (JSC)

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IN RE: VOLKSWAGEN “CLEAN DIESEL”
MARKETING, SALES PRACTICES, AND
PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION
_____________________________________/

PRETRIAL ORDER NO. 1

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This Order Relates To:
United States District Court
Northern District of California

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ALL ACTIONS
_______________________________________/

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The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“the Panel”) has transferred certain

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marketing, sales practices, and products liability lawsuits relating to Volkswagen and other diesel

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vehicles to this Court for coordinated pretrial proceedings. As the number and complexity of

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these actions warrant holding a single, coordinated initial case management conference for all

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actions, the Court ORDERS as follows:

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1.

APPLICABILITY OF ORDER — Prior to the initial conference and entry of a

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comprehensive order governing all further proceedings in this case, the provisions of this Order

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shall govern the practice and procedure in those actions that were transferred to this Court by the

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Panel. This Order applies to all related cases filed in all divisions of the Northern District of

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California and all “tag-along actions” later filed in, removed to, or transferred to this Court.

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2.

CONSOLIDATION—The civil actions transferred to this Court or related to the

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actions already pending before this Court are consolidated for pretrial purposes. Any “tag-along

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actions” transferred to this Court, or directly filed in the Northern District of California, will

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automatically be consolidated with this action without the necessity of future motions or orders.

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This consolidation does not constitute a determination that the actions should be consolidated for

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trial, nor does it have the effect of making any entity a party to any action in which he, she or it has

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not been named, served or added in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

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3.

DATE OF INITIAL CONFERENCE AND CONFERENCE AGENDA–The

Court will conduct an initial conference on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 at 8:00 a.m. in

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Courtroom No. 6, 17th Floor, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco California. Lead defense

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counsel is required to appear in person at the conference. On or before Wednesday, December 16,

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2015, Defendants shall submit a written submission advising the Court as to the status of all

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litigation pending in this MDL matter. The submission shall also advise the Court of the steps

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Defendants have taken to preserve relevant evidence, including electronically stored information.

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Defense counsel shall be prepared at the December 22, 2015 conference to answer questions from

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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the Court regarding the written submission, litigation status and evidence preservation. Plaintiffs’

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counsel will be permitted to respond in writing.

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4.

LISTENING LIVE TO THE DECEMBER 22, 2015 STATUS

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CONFERENCE–Consistent with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 1’s command that the courts

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and parties construe, administer and employ the Rules “to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive

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determination of every action and proceeding,” counsel, other than lead defense counsel, may

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listen to the December 22, 2015 conference through CourtCall and thus need not incur the expense

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and burden of attending this conference in person. Access to the conference may be arranged by

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calling CourtCall at [phone] not later than 5:00 p.m. on December 21, 2015. CourtCall

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participants may only listen to the proceedings.

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5.

APPOINTMENT OF PLAINTIFFS’ STEERING COMMITTEE(S)–The Court

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intends to appoint a Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee(s) to conduct and coordinate the pretrial stage

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of this litigation with the defendants’ representatives or committee. The Court will issue a further

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order governing the schedule and procedure for the appointment of Plaintiffs’ Steering

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Committee(s) and anticipates that the applications for appointment will be due Friday, January 8,

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2016, responses/objections due Thursday, January 14, 2016, with a hearing scheduled for January

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21, 2016, although this schedule may change.

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6.

MASTER DOCKET FILE—The Clerk of Court will maintain a master docket
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case file under the style “In re: Volkswagen ‘Clean Diesel’ Marketing, Sales Practices, and

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Products Liability Litigation” and the identification “MDL 2672.” When a pleading is intended to

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apply to all actions, this shall be indicated by the words: “This Document Relates to: ALL

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ACTIONS.” When a pleading is intended to apply to fewer than all cases, this Court’s docket

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number for each individual case to which the document number relates shall appear immediately

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after the words “This Document Relates to.”

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7.

FILING---Each attorney of record is obligated to become a Northern District of

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California ECF User and be assigned a user ID and password for access to the system. If she or he

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has not already done so, counsel shall register forthwith as an ECF User and be issued an ECF
User ID and password. Forms and instructions can be found on the Court’s website at

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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www.cand.uscourts.gov/cm-ecf. All documents shall be e-filed in the Master file, 15-MD-2672.

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Documents that pertain to one or only some of the pending actions shall also be e-filed in the

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individual case(s) to which the document pertains. Registration instructions for pro se parties who

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wish to e-file can be found on the Court’s website at

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www.cand.uscourts.gov/ECF/proseregistration.

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8.

APPEARANCES—Counsel who are not admitted to practice before the Northern

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District of California must file an application to be admitted pro hac vice. See N.D. Cal. Civil

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Local Rule 11-3. The requirement that pro hac vice counsel retain local counsel, see N.D. Cal.

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Civil Local Rule 11-3(a)(3) and 11-3(e), is waived and does not apply to this MDL action.

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9.

RESPONSE EXTENSION AND STAY—Defendants are granted an extension of

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time for responding by motion or answer to the complaints until a date to be set by this Court.

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Pending further order of this Court, all outstanding discovery proceedings are stayed, and no

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further discovery shall be initiated. Moreover, all pending motions must be renoticed for

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resolution once the Court sets a schedule for any such motions.

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10.

PRESERVATION OF EVIDENCE—All parties and counsel are reminded of

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their duty to preserve evidence that may be relevant to this action, including electronically stored

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information. Any evidence preservation order previously entered in any of the transferred actions

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shall remain in full force and effect until further order of the Court. Until the parties reach an
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agreement on a preservation plan for all cases or the Court orders otherwise, each party shall take

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reasonable steps to preserve all evidence that may be relevant to this litigation. Counsel, as

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officers of the court, are obligated to exercise all reasonable efforts to identify and notify parties

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and non-parties, including employees of corporate or institutional parties, of their preservation

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obligations.

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SETTLEMENT MASTER—All parties are invited to file any suggestions of

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person(s) to appoint as Special Settlement Master. The submissions must be filed on or before

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December 22, 2015 and each submission shall not exceed three pages. Any responses/objections

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and/or support for persons suggested by other parties shall be filed on or before January 6, 2016.

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12.

CASE WEBSITE---The Court will maintain a website--accessible to counsel,

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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parties, the public and the press free of charge--at cand.uscourts.gov/crb/vwmdl. The website will

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include a list of dates and times of upcoming proceedings, along with significant court orders and

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other documents.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: December 9, 2015
______________________________________
CHARLES R. BREYER
United States District Judge

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