Van Valin et al v. Google, Inc.

Filing 25

PRELIMINARY CONDITIONAL TRANSFER ORDER dated 8/17/10. This case to be transferred to the Northern District of California before the Honorable James Ware for consolidated pretrial proceedings upon receipt of the certified copy of this order from the transferee court along with the newly assigned case number in that district.Signed by John G. Heyburn, II, Chairman of the MDL Panel (mkk)

Van Valin et al v. Google, Inc.

Doc. 25
UNITED STATES JUDICIAl PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION

Aug 1 7 , 2 0 1 0
UNITED STATES J U D I C I A L PANEL
on

MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION

FILED C L E R K ' S OFFICE

I N R E : G O O G L E INC. S T R E E T V I E W E L E C T R O N I C COMMUNICATIONS L I T I G A T I O N

MDLNo.2184

TRANSFER O R D E R

B e f o r e t h e e n t i r e P a n e l : Plaintiffs i n o n e D i s t r i c t o f District o f C o l u m b i a action h a v e m o v e d , p u r s u a n t t o 28 U.S.C. § 1407, f o r c o o r d i n a t e d o r consolidated pretrial p r o c e e d i n g s o f this litigation in t h e District o f D i s t r i c t o f C o l u m b i a . Plaintiffs i n t h e o t h e r D i s t r i c t o f D i s t r i c t o f C o l u m b i a a c t i o n a n d a p o t e n t i a l l y - r e l a t e d a c t i o n s u p p o r t t h e motion. P l a i n t i f f s i n t h e N o r t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f C a l i f o r n i a a n d S o u t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f l l l i n o i s a c t i o n s a n d a n o t h e r p o t e n t i a l l y - r e l a t e d action, a s w e l l a s d e f e n d a n t , G o o g l e , Inc. ( G o o g l e ) , s u g g e s t c e n t r a l i z a t i o n i n t h e N o r t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f California. P l a i n t i f f s i n t h e E a s t e r n D i s t r i c t o f P e n n s y l v a n i a a n d t h e D i s t r i c t o f O r e g o n actions s u g g e s t c e n t r a l i z a t i o n i n t h e N o r t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f C a l i f o r n i a or, a l t e r n a t i v e l y , t h e D i s t r i c t o f O r e g o n . P l a i n t i f f i n t h e D i s t r i c t o f Massachusetts a c t i o n suggests centralization i n t h e D i s t r i c t o f Massachusetts. T h i s litigation currently consists o f eight a c t i o n s listed o n S c h e d u l e A a n d p e n d i n g i n s i x districts a s follows: t w o a c t i o n s e a c h i n t h e N o r t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f C a l i f o r n i a a n d t h e D i s t r i c t o f D i s t r i c t o f Columbia, a n d o n e action each i n the S o u t h e r n D i s t r i c t ofDlinois, t h e D i s t r i c t o f Massachusetts, the District o f Oregon, a n d t h e Eastern D i s t r i c t o f Pennsylvania. I O n t h e b a s i s o f t h e p a p e r s filed a n d h e a r i n g s e s s i o n held, w e find t h a t t h e s e a c t i o n s i n v o l v e c o m m o n q u e s t i o n s o f fact, a n d t h a t centralization u n d e r Section 1407 i n t h e N o r t h e r n District o f California will s e r v e the convenience o f t h e p a r t i e s a n d witnesses and p r o m o t e t h e j u s t a n d efficient c o n d u c t o f t h i s litigation. T h e s e actions s h a r e f a c t u a l q u e s t i o n s arising o u t o fa l l e g a t i o n s t h a t G o o g l e i n t e n t i o n a l l y i n t e r c e p t e d e l e c t r o n i c c o m m u n i c a t i o n s s e n t o r received o v e r class m e m b e r s ' o p e n , n o n s e c u r e d w i r e l e s s n e t w o r k s . C e n t r a l i z a t i o n w i l l e l i m i n a t e d u p l i c a t i v e discovery; p r e v e n t i n c o n s i s t e n t p r e t r i a l r u l i n g s , i n c l u d i n g w i t h r e s p e c t t o c l a s s c e r t i f i c a t i o n ; a n d c o n s e r v e t h e r e s o u r c e s o ft h e p a r t i e s , t h e i r counsel, a n d t h e judiciary. W e are p e r s u a d e d t h a t the N o r t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f California i s a n a p p r o p r i a t e transferee forum f o r t h i s l i t i g a t i o n . T h e s o l e d e f e n d a n t , G o o g l e , i s h e a d q u a r t e r e d there, a n d m o s t r e l e v a n t d o c u m e n t s

T h e p a r t i e s h a v e n o t i f i e d t h e P a n e l t h a t five a d d i t i o n a l r e l a t e d a c t i o n s a r e p e n d i n g , four actions i n t h e N o r t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f C a l i f o r n i a a n d o n e a c t i o n i n t h e E a s t e r n D i s t r i c t o f P e n n s y l v a n i a . T h e s e a c t i o n s a r e p o t e n t i a l t a g - a l o n g a c t i o n s . See R u l e s 7 . 4 a n d 7 . 5 , R . P . J . P . M . L . , 199 F.R.D. 4 2 5 , 4 3 5 - 3 6 (2001).

Dockets.Justia.com

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a n d witnesses are likely located there. Moreover, m o s t responding parties support centralization in this district. I T I S T H E R E F O R E O R D E R E D t h a t , p u r s u a n t t o 28 U . S . C . § 1407, t h e a c t i o n s l i s t e d o n S c h e d u l e A a n d p e n d i n g o u t s i d e t h e N o r t h e m D i s t r i c t o f C a l i f o r n i a are t r a n s f e r r e d t o t h e N o r t h e m District o f California and, with the consent o f t h a t court, assigned to the Honorable James Ware for c o o r d i n a t e d o r c o n s o l i d a t e d p r e t r i a l p r o c e e d i n g s w i t h the actions p e n d i n g t h e r e a n d l i s t e d o n S c h e d u l e A.

I T IS FURTHER ORDERED t h a t this litigation is renamed " I n re: Google Inc. Street View Electronic C o m m u n i c a t i o n s Litigation."

P A N E L O N MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION

f~-. ---. (/fubJa. Hey
9fLA./J
Chairman Robert L. Miller, Jr. David R. Hansen Frank C. Damrell, J r.. Kathryn H. Vratil W. Royal Furgeson, Jr. Barbara S. Jones

IN R E : GOOGLE INC. S T R E E T V I E W E L E C T R O N I C COMMUNICATIONS L I T I G A T I O N

MDLNo.2184

SCHEDULE A

Northern District o f California Matthew Berlage, et aI. v. Google, Inc., C.A. N o . 5:10-2187 B. Stokes v. Google, Inc., C.A. No. 5:10-2306 District o f District o f C o l u m b i a Jeffrey Colman v. Google, Inc., C.A. No. 1:10-877 Patrick Keyes, e t aI. v. Google, Inc., C.A. No. 1:10-896 Southern D i s t r i c t o f l l l i n o i s J o h n E. Redstone, e t al. v. Google, Inc., c . A . No. 3:10-400 District o f M a s s a c h u s e t t s G a l a x y I n t e r n e t S e r v i c e s , Inc. v . G o o g l e , I n c . , C . A . N o . 1 : 1 0 - 1 0 8 7 1 District o f O r e g o n Vicki Van VaIin, e t aI. v. Google, Inc., C.A. No. 3:10-557 Eastern D i s t r i c t o f P e n n s y l v a n i a Stephanie c a r t e r , et aI. v. Google, Inc., C.A. No. 2:10-2649

·41.1 ~

MDLPanelOrderslJPMLlDCAI JPMUUSCOURTS Sent by: Debbie Nguyen
0 8 / 1 7 / 2 0 1 0 1 1 : 0 1 AM

T o OCDmLMDLClerk,ORDmLMDL_Clerk, mdrclerkiPAEO/03/USCOURTS@USCOURTS, ILSOdb_MDLClerkillSO/07/USCOURTS@USCOURTS, ee [e-mail], J u d g e [e-mail], [e-mail], bee Subject MOL No. 2184 - I n i t i a l Transfer Order - I N F O R M A T I O N ONLY

TO THE TRANSFEROR CLERKS OF THE FOLLOWlNG COURTS: DISTRICT OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS DISTRICT OF OREGON EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA Dear Clerks:

M D L N o . 2 1 8 4 - - I N RE: G o o g l e I n c . S t r e e t V i e w E l e c t r o n i c C o m m u n i c a t i o n s Litigation.
This transmittal is for infonnation purposes only, there is no action required at this time. Attached is a transfer order issued today by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrlct Litigation i n the above-captioned matter. A certified copy o f this order has also been transmitted'via email today to the Northern District ofCalifomia. Rule 1.5 o f the Rules o f Procedure ofllie Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, 199 F.R.D. 425, 428 (2001), states "...A transfer or remand pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407 shall be effective when the transfer or remand order is filed in the office o f the clerk o f the district court o f the transferee district."
Y o u will receive a c e r t i f i e d c o p y o f t h i s o r d e r f r o m t h e t r a n s f e r e e c o u r t a l o n g w i t h notification o f t h e n e w l y assigned case n u m b e r ( s ) i n t h a t d i s t r i c t c o u r t . W i t h t h e a d v e n t o f e l e c t r o n i c filing, R u l e 1 . 6 ( a ) o f t h e P a n e l R u l e s s h a l l b e s a t i s f i e d u p o n t r a n s m i t t a l o f t h e p o r t i o n o f t h e file d e e m e d n e c e s s a r y a n d r e q u e s t e d b y t h e t r a n s f e r e e c o u r t .

Very truly. Jeffery N. Luthi Clerk o f the Panel

By: Debbie Nguyen Case Administrator