Ellis et al v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. et al

Filing 134

ORDER TO EXTEND CASE DEADLINES BY 60 DAYS re 131 Statement filed by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. The Private Mediation cutoff is extended to 3/16/15.Class Certification Motions due by 5/5/2015. Replies due by 7/6/2015. Responses due by 6/5/2015. Motion Hearing set for 7/24/2015 02:00 PM in Courtroom 1, 4th Floor, Oakland before Hon. Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. Signed by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers on 12/2/14. (fs, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 12/2/2014)

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ARNOLD & PORTER LLP
PETER OBSTLER (No. 171623)
[e-mail]
JEE YOUNG YOU (No. 241658)
[e-mail]
Three Embarcadero Center, 10th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111-4024
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: 415.471.3400
Attorneys for Defendants
JPMorgan Chase & Co. and JPMorgan
Chase Bank, N.A. for itself and as
successor by merger to Chase Home
Finance LLC

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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DIANA ELLIS, JAMES SCHILLINGER,
RONALD LAZAR, individually, and on
behalf of other members of the general
public similarly situated,

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vs.

Plaintiffs,

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J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO., a
Delaware corporation, J.P. MORGAN
CHASE BANK, N.A., a national
association, for itself and as successor by
merger to Chase Home Finance, LLC, and
CHASE HOME FINANCE LLC, a
Delaware limited liability company,
Defendants.

Case Number: 4:12-cv-3897-YGR
CLASS ACTION
[Related to Case Nos. C-12-00664YGR, C-12-3892-YGR,]
JOINT STATEMENT AND
[PROPOSED] ORDER TO EXTEND
CASE DEADLINES BY 60-DAYS
PURSUANT TO COURT’S
NOVEMBER 20, 2014 ORDER
Judge:
Action filed:
Trial Date:

Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers
July 24, 2012
None Set

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DC: 5535125-2

Case No. 4:12-cv-3897-YGR
JOINT STATEMENT AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO EXTEND CASE DEADLINES

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Consistent with the Court’s November 20, 2014 “Order Setting Compliance

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Hearing” (ECF No. 130), Plaintiffs Diana Ellis, James Schillinger and Ronald Lazar

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(“Plaintiffs”) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., for itself and

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as the successor by merger to Chase Home Finance (“Chase” or “Defendants”) (together,

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the “Parties”) respectfully submit: (i) a Joint Statement “summarizing the status of the

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litigation and apprising the Court” of the need for a 60-day extension of the remaining

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pretrial deadlines; and (ii) “an accompanying proposed form of order” (the “Proposed

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Order”).

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I.

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JOINT STATEMENT

On November 25, 2014, the Parties conducted a meet and confer and reached an

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agreement to submit this Joint Statement “summarizing the status of the litigation and

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apprising the Court of [the] need for deadline extensions.” The Parties agree that the

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following pretrial dates should be extended by 60 days as follows:

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Event
Disclosure of Experts: Opening
Mediation Cutoff
Disclosure of Experts: Rebuttal
Expert Discovery Cutoff
Class Certification Motion
Class Certification Opposition
Class Certification Reply
Class Certification Hearing

Current Deadline
December 22, 2014
January 15, 2015
January 23, 2015
February 20, 2015
March 6, 2015
April 6, 2015
May 6, 2015
May 26, 2015

Proposed Extension
February 20, 2015
March 16, 2015
March 24, 2015
April 21, 2015
May 5, 2015
June 5, 2015
July 6, 2015
July 24, 2015

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The Parties believe that this extension is warranted for the following reasons:

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First, although Chase has produced transactional level data relating to 1.5 million

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loans going back to January 1, 2008, Chase contends that ongoing work is being done to

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validate that data. By way of background, Plaintiffs sought information concerning the

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number of property inspection fees Chase charged to borrowers and the amounts paid by

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those borrowers. In response, Chase represents that it began a data excavation and mining

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Case No. 4:12-cv-3897-YGR
JOINT STATEMENT AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO EXTEND CASE DEADLINES

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project that has required Chase to undertake, design, and program multiple iterations and

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queries in connection with millions of lines of data. Chase contends that, due to the

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complexity of the data mining project and the need to retrieve and mine data relating to

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legacy entities that Chase acquired by merger or other acquisitions, it is engaged in

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ongoing work to validate and verify the post-2008 datasets it produced prior to the

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discovery cutoff.

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Chase represents that it is also in the process of producing pre-2008 data pursuant

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to an order of Magistrate Judge Spero. The Parties disagreed about whether loan level

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data should be provided for the time period from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2007

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and submitted that dispute to Magistrate Judge Spero on October 21, 2014. (ECF No.

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114.) On October 29, 2014, Judge Spero ordered Chase to produce damages data back to

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2001 by January 27, 2015. (ECF No. 119.) As a result, Chase will not complete its

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production of loan level data going back to 2001 until well after the December 22, 2014

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deadline for initial expert reports and disclosures.

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Extending the remaining pretrial deadlines for 60 days will ensure that each of the

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Parties’ damages experts will have a complete, validated data set, including the pre-2008

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data subject to a production deadline of January 27, 2015, before expert witness reports

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are due. Moreover, to the extent that discussions between the Parties reveal a need for the

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production of any supplemental or corrected data, the extension would provide sufficient

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time for such productions to occur before expert reports are due.

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Second, for similar reasons set forth in Chase’s Response to and Joinder in

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Plaintiffs’ Renewed Request for Pretrial Conference (ECF 115), extending the pretrial

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deadlines will enable the Parties to review and digest more than a million pages of ESI.

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Chase was able to produce the vast majority of responsive ESI documents by the

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November 21 deadline. However, due to the unanticipated large number of documents

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that Chase contends require redaction, the Parties stipulated to, and Judge Spero granted,

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an order allowing Chase to complete its production of redacted ESI by December 2, 2015.

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(ECF No. 129.) This leaves the Parties and their experts less than three weeks to review
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Case No. 4:12-cv-3897-YGR
JOINT STATEMENT AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO EXTEND CASE DEADLINES

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and consider ESI in connection with their expert reports. Therefore, extending the

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deadlines by 60 days will provide the Parties and their experts with time to conduct their

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review of ESI and incorporate that information into their expert reports.
Third, there are four 30(b)(6) deposition topics which, although served and noticed

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for dates prior to the discovery cutoff deadline, have not yet been completed due to

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scheduling issues. One 30(b)(6) deposition topic relates to Chase’s Broker’s Price

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Opinion (“BPO”) charges, as discussed in Plaintiffs’ Renewed Request for Pretrial

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Conference. (ECF No. 111.) This deposition is scheduled to be taken on December 10,

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2014. Another 30(b)(6) topic relates to the relationship between J.P. Morgan Chase &

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Co. and Chase Bank, N.A. The Parties disagreed as to whether Plaintiffs were entitled to

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take the deposition and after submitting their dispute to Judge Spero, the Court ordered

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Chase to produce a witness for the deposition. (ECF No. 119.) The deposition is

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scheduled to be held on December 12, 2014. Another 30(b)(6) topic relates to the loan

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level data discussed above. Plaintiffs took this deposition on November 13, 2014, but the

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parties have agreed to continue that deposition to a second day in December that they are

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in the process of setting. Finally, a deposition concerning Chase’s policies for charging

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borrowers fees for property inspections is scheduled to be taken on December 9, 2014.

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Extending the pretrial deadlines will allow the parties to complete these depositions on a

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cooperative basis and in time to allow for the incorporation of such discovery into the

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Parties’ expert reports.1
The Parties therefore respectfully request that the following deadlines set in the

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May 19, 2014 Order (ECF No. 95) be extended by 60 days as follows:

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1. Mediation Cutoff: March 16, 2015

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2. Disclosure of Experts - Opening: February 20, 2015

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3. Disclosure of Experts - Rebuttal: March 24, 2015

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4. Expert Discovery Cutoff: April 21, 2015

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Furthermore, as of the date of this filing, Defendants’ motions to dismiss the RICO claims are still
pending before the Court.
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Case No. 4:12-cv-3897-YGR
JOINT STATEMENT AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO EXTEND CASE DEADLINES

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5. Class Certification Motion to be Filed: May 5, 2015

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6. Class Certification Opposition to be Filed: June 5, 2015

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7. Class Certification Reply to be Filed: July 6, 2015

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8. Hearing on Motion for Class Certification: July 24, 2015 at 2 p.m.

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Dated: November 26, 2014

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

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ARNOLD & PORTER LLP

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By:

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/s/ “Jee Young You”

Peter Obstler (No. 171623)
Jee Young You (No. 241658)
Three Embarcadero Center, 10th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111-4024
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: 415.471.3400

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Attorneys for Defendants
JPMorgan Chase & Co. and JPMorgan Chase
Bank, N.A. for itself and as successor by merger
to Chase Home Finance LLC

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In accordance with L.R. 5-4.3.4(a)(2)(i), the above signatory attests that the signatory
below concurs in the contents of this filing and has authorized this filing.

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Dated: November 26, 2014

BARON & BUDD, P.C.

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By:

/s/ “Mark Pifko”

Daniel Alberstone (SBN 105275)
Roland Tellis (SBN 186269)
Mark Pifko (SBN 228412)
Baron & Budd, P.C.
15910 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 1600
Encino, California 91436
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
Marguerite K. Kingsmill (admitted pro hac vice)
[e-mail]
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Case No. 4:12-cv-3897-YGR
JOINT STATEMENT AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO EXTEND CASE DEADLINES

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Charles B. Colvin (admitted pro hac vice)
[e-mail]
KINGSMILL RIESS, L.L.C.
201 St. Charles Avenue, Suite 3300
New Orleans, LA 70170
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
Philip F. Cossich, Jr. (admitted pro hac vice)
David A. Parsiola (admitted pro hac vice)
COSSICH, SUMICH, PARSIOLA &
TAYLOR, L.L.C.
8397 Highway 23, Suite 100
Belle Chasse, Louisiana 70037
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]

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Attorneys for Plaintiffs Diana Ellis, James
Schillinger and Ronald Lazar, individually, and on
behalf of other members of the public similarly
situated

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Case No. 4:12-cv-3897-YGR
JOINT STATEMENT AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO EXTEND CASE DEADLINES

[PROPOSED] ORDER

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The Court, having reviewed the contents of the Parties’ Joint Statement, and finding

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good cause therein, hereby orders that the following deadlines set in the May 19, 2014

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Order (ECF No. 95) be extended by 60 days as follows:

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1. Mediation Cutoff: March 16, 2015

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2. Disclosure of Experts - Opening: February 20, 2015

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3. Disclosure of Experts - Rebuttal: March 24, 2015

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4. Expert Discovery Cutoff: April 21, 2015

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5. Class Certification Motion to be Filed: May 5, 2015

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6. Class Certification Opposition to be Filed: June 5, 2015

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7. Class Certification Reply to be Filed: July 6, 2015

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8. Hearing on Motion for Class Certification: July 24, 2015 at 2 p.m.

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To the extent that the parties are still completing discovery responsive to discovery

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requests served prior to November 21, 2014, they shall use their best efforts to complete

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all such discovery or supplemental productions cooperatively and expeditiously within

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sixty days from November 21, 2014.

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Dated: December 2, 2014

_______________________________
Judge of the United States District Court

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Case No. 4:12-cv-3897-YGR
JOINT STATEMENT AND [PROPOSED] ORDER TO EXTEND CASE DEADLINES