Richard Pohly v. Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

Filing 6

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO RELATE CASES (84 in case 3:13-cv-04863-JST). Signed by Judge Jon S. Tigar on September 16, 2015. (wsn, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 9/16/2015)

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Dated: September 16, 2015 N 6 F D IS T IC T O R IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ILLINOIS UNION INSURANCE COMPANY, an Illinois corporation, Civil Action No. 3:13-CV-04863 JST Plaintiff, v. INTUITIVE SURGICAL, INC., a Delaware corporation, Defendant. ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION OF MOVANT RICHARD POHLY TO CONSIDER WHETHER CASES SHOULD BE RELATED [N.D. Cal. Civ. L.R. 3-12, 7-11] 14 15 16 RICHARD POHLY, Civil Action No. 5:15-cv-04113-PSG Plaintiff, 17 v. 18 19 20 INTUITIVE SURGICAL, INC., a Delaware corporation headquartered in California, Defendant. ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION OF PLAINTIFF RICHARD POHLY TO CONSIDER WHETHER CASES SHOULD BE RELATED [N.D. Cal. Civ. L.R. 3-12, 7-11] 21 22 23 ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO CONSIDER WHETHER CASES SHOULD BE RELATED – Page 1 Pohly v. ISI R NIA A H ER . Ti ga r LI nS J u d ge J o FO S UNIT ED D DENIE RT U O Attorneys for Plaintiff Richard Pohly 3 RT 5 2 NO 4 Richard H. Friedman (CA Bar No. 221622) rfriedman@friedmanrubin.com FRIEDMAN | RUBIN 51 University Street, Suite 201 Seattle, WA 98101 Ph: 206-501-4446 Fax: 206-623-0794 1 S DISTRICT TE C TA FRIEDMAN | RUBIN 51 U NIVERSITY S TREET , S UITE 201 S EATTLE , WA 98101‐3614 (206) 501‐4446 C 1 TO ALL PARTIES AND THEIR COUNSEL OF RECORD: 2 Pursuant to N.D. Cal. Civil Local Rules 3-12 and 7-11, Movant and Plaintiff Richard 3 Pohly (“Pohly”) hereby files this Administrative Motion to Consider Whether Cases Should Be 4 Related to consider whether the cases Illinois Union Ins. Co. v. Intuitive Surgical, Inc., No. 5 3:13-cv-04113-PSG (the “Illinois Union case”), which has already been determined to be 6 related to Navigators Specialty Ins. Co. v. Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Case No. 3:13-cv-05801 (the 7 Navigators case”) should be related to the case of Pohly v. Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Case No. 8 5:15-cv-04113-JST (the “Pohly case ”). 9 10 I. ACTION REQUESTED An order pursuant to Civil Local Rule 3-12 relating the Pohly case and the Illinois Union 11 case, which has already been found to be related to the Navigators case, and assigning this case 12 to the judge currently assigned to the Illinois Union and Navigators cases. 13 II. REASONS SUPPORTING THE REQUEST 14 The applicable standard is contained in Civil Local Rule 3-12: “An action is related to 15 another when (1) The actions concern substantially the same parties, property, transaction or 16 event; and (2) It appears likely that there will be an unduly burdensome duplication of labor and 17 expense or conflicting results if the cases are conducted before different judges.” 18 The Pohly case and the Illinois Union-Navigators cases are related because they involve 19 substantially the same parties and events. See Civ. L.R. 3-12(a)(1). If the cases are conducted 20 before different judges, there will likely be a burdensome duplication of labor and expense. See 21 Civ. L.R. 3-12(a)(2). 22 23 ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO CONSIDER WHETHER CASES SHOULD BE RELATED – Page 2 Pohly v. ISI FRIEDMAN | RUBIN 51 U NIVERSITY S TREET , S UITE 201 S EATTLE , WA 98101‐3614 (206) 501‐4446 1 A. Pohly and Illinois Union/Navigators Involve Substantially the Same Parties. 2 1. Titles and Case Numbers 3 The Pohly case: Richard Pohly v. Intuitive Surgical, Inc., No. 5:15-cv-04113-PSG. 4 The Illinois Union case: 5 Illinois Union Insurance Company v. Intuitive Surgical, Inc., No. 3:13-CV-04863 JST. 6 Intuitive Surgical, Inc., is a named defendant in both the Pohly case, the Illinois Union 7 case (involving two different insurance companies, as described below), and the Navigators 8 case. Mr. Pohly also believes Intuitive will use the same lead counsel in each of the lawsuits. 9 Intuitive is defended by Allen Ruby of Skadden Arps in each of the insurance cases. Mr. 10 Pohly’s counsel believes Mr. Ruby will also be lead counsel in the Pohly case. This is because 11 Mr. Ruby has appeared as lead counsel in two other ongoing product liability actions brought by 12 Mr. Pohly’s counsel in Washington state.1 13 substantially the same. 14 B. 15 Thus, even the counsel for the parties are Pohly and Illinois Union/Navigators Involve Similar and Interrelated Fact Questions. 16 Intuitive Surgical, Inc., the manufacturer of the “da Vinci” surgical robot, has been sued 17 at least 94 times for injuries caused by product defects.2 Richard Pohly is the most recent 18 injured person to sue Intuitive, having brought suit in this District on September 9, 2015.3 19 Intuitive apparently sought indemnity from liability arising from these product liability 20 suits from at least three different insurers, each of whom are currently in litigation with Intuitive 21 22 23 1 The undersigned counsel makes this representation as an officer of the Court. If it is disputed, counsel is happy to provide a sworn declaration to this effect. 2 Pohly case, 5:15-cv-04113-PSG, at Dkt. #1 (complaint), id. at ¶14 (93 other suits). 3 Id. ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO CONSIDER WHETHER CASES SHOULD BE RELATED – Page 3 Pohly v. ISI FRIEDMAN | RUBIN 51 U NIVERSITY S TREET , S UITE 201 S EATTLE , WA 98101‐3614 (206) 501‐4446 1 over the indemnity obligation in front of this Court. The first suit was a declaratory action for 2 rescission filed by Illinois Union (the Illinois Union case). Navigators, the second insurer, 3 subsequently filed another declaratory action for rescission (the Navigators case). Intuitive then 4 cross-complained in the Illinois Union case against the third insurer, Ironshore, which counter- 5 claimed against Intuitive for declaratory relief that no obligation is owed. The Illinois Union 6 and Navigators actions were deemed related by this Court.4 7 The insurance cases each ask the question of whether “Intuitive Surgical concealed 8 material information relating to known claims during the application process.”5 It appears, 9 speaking generally, the insurance companies believe Intuitive was aware of numerous injury 10 claims that it put into “tolling agreements” with the injured plaintiffs but failed to disclose those 11 claims to the insurers. Similar issues are raised in the Pohly case: Mr. Pohly alleges Intuitive 12 was aware that the defects in its robotic surgery system were causing injuries throughout the 13 country, but that Intuitive failed to disclose these injuries to doctors, hospitals, and the FDA. 14 Thus, each of these suits concerns what Intuitive knew about the injuries its product was 15 causing, and when. In this way, they concern the same “events” under Local Rule 3-12(a)(1). 16 Finally, Mr. Pohly’s claim was itself placed into Intuitive’s “tolling agreement” system 17 while the parties attempted to resolve the claim short of litigation. Thus, the Pohly case 18 provides a concrete example of one of the kinds of cases that Intuitive and its insurers are 19 litigating. 20 /// 21 /// 22 23 4 5 Illinois Union case, 3:13-CV-04863 JST, at Dkt. #20. Illinois Union case at Dkt. #18 (related case motion) at 3:10-12. ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO CONSIDER WHETHER CASES SHOULD BE RELATED – Page 4 Pohly v. ISI FRIEDMAN | RUBIN 51 U NIVERSITY S TREET , S UITE 201 S EATTLE , WA 98101‐3614 (206) 501‐4446 1 III. CONCLUSION 2 Mr. Pohly’s case involves the same parties, the same counsel, and many of the same 3 interrelated factual questions about the timing of Intuitive’s knowledge and disclosure of the 4 injuries caused by its product. For this reason, it makes sense to have the same judge for each 5 of these cases. Doing so will most efficiently use the Court’s resources. 6 DATED: September 10, 2015 7 8 9 10 /s/ Richard Friedman Richard Friedman, No. 221622 FRIEDMAN| RUBIN 51 University Street, Suite 201 Seattle, WA 98101 Telephone: 206-501-4446 Facsimile: 206-623-0794 Email: rfriedman@friedmanrubin.com 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO CONSIDER WHETHER CASES SHOULD BE RELATED – Page 5 Pohly v. ISI FRIEDMAN | RUBIN 51 U NIVERSITY S TREET , S UITE 201 S EATTLE , WA 98101‐3614 (206) 501‐4446

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