Becker v. Spacedev, Inc. et al

Filing 18

ORDER Granting 14 Motion for Approval of Lead Plaintiff's Secection of Lead and Liaison Counsel: Lead Plaintiffs selection of Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. as Lead Counsel and his selection of Hulett Harper Stewart LLP as Liaison Counsel are hereby approved. Signed by Judge M. James Lorenz on 8/6/2009. (All non-registered users served via U.S. Mail Service).(mjj) (jrl).

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ROBERT E. BECKER, 11 12 13 14 15 16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) SPACEDEV, INC. et al., ) ) Defendants. ) __________________________________ ) Civil No. 08cv2199-L(CAB) ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF LEAD PLAINTIFF'S SELECTION OF LEAD AND LIAISON COUNSEL In this putative securities class action, the firms of Rigrodsky & Long P.A. ("R&L") and 17 Hulett Harper Stewart LLP ("HHS") filed a Motion for Approval of Lead Plaintiff's Selection of 18 Lead and Liaison Counsel. No opposition has been filed. For the reasons stated below, the 19 motion is GRANTED. 20 By order filed April 17, 2009, Robert E. Becker was appointed Lead Plaintiff for the 21 class. Lead Plaintiff's selection of R&L and HHS was rejected at that time because of several 22 discrepancies in Plaintiff's filings regarding his selection of counsel. (See order field Apr. 17, 23 2009.) Lead Plaintiff re-filed his motion for approval of his selection of lead and liaison 24 counsel, and supported his request with additional information. 25 Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(a)(3)(B)(v), the lead plaintiff "shall, subject to the approval 26 of the court, select and retain counsel to represent the class." In order to approve class counsel, 27 the court must find that they comply with the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 28 23(g). Fed. Judicial Ctr, Managing Class Action Litig. at 4-5 (2005). Based on the declarations 08cv2199 1 and representations made in support of Lead Plaintiff's initial motion (doc. no. 5) and the 2 pending motion (doc. no. 14), the court finds that Lead Plaintiff's selection complies with Rule 3 23(g) requirements. 4 Lead Plaintiff retained three law firms in this matter, R&L as its Lead Counsel , HHS as 5 Liaison Counsel, and The Rosen Law Firm ("Rosen") as additional counsel. Although Lead 6 Plaintiff intends for Rosen to continue to represent him in this matter and support the other two 7 law firms, he expressly did not seek approval of Rosen as lead or liaison counsel. While a 8 litigant has a right to representation of his choice, the counsel are hereby forewarned that the 9 court is not inclined to grant any attorneys' fees or costs for duplication of work among them. 10 For the reasons stated above, the motion is GRANTED. Lead Plaintiff's selection of 11 Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. as Lead Counsel and his selection of Hulett Harper Stewart LLP as 12 Liaison Counsel are hereby approved. 13 14 15 DATED: August 6, 2009 16 17 HON. CATHY ANN BENCIVENGO 18 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 19 ALL PARTIES/COUNSEL 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 08cv2199 IT IS SO ORDERED. M. James Lorenz United States District Court Judge

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