Hohenberg v. Ferrero USA, Inc

Filing 51

MOTION for Class Certification by Athena Hohenberg, Laura Rude-Barbato. (Attachments: # 1 Memo of Points and Authorities, # 2 Declaration of Gregory S. Weston, # 3 REDACTED Exhibits to the Weston Declaration, # 4 Declaration of Jack Fitzgerald, # 5 Declaration of Ronald A. Marron)(Fitzgerald, John). Modified on 8/2/2011 - No proof of service. Email sent to Atty to file proof of service. Removed duplicate text (jah).

1 LAW OFFICES OF RONALD A.
MARRON, APLC

2 RONALD A. MARRON (175650)
3636 4th Avenue, Suite 202

3 San Diego, California 92103
4 Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile:
[phone]
[e-mail]
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THE WESTON FIRM
GREGORY S. WESTON (239944)
JACK FITZGERALD (257370)
MELANIE PERSINGER (275423)
888 Turquoise Street
San Diego, California 92109
Telephone:
[phone]
Facsimile:
[phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Interim Class Counsel

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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IN RE FERRERO LITIGATION

CASE NO: 3:11-CV-00205 H CAB
Pleading Type: Class Action
Action Filed: February 01, 2011

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DECLARATION OF RONALD A.
MARRON IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS
CERTIFICATION

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Judge: Hon. Marilyn L. Huff
Date: October 11, 2011
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Courtroom 13

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In Re Ferrero Litigation, Case No. 3:11-CV-00205 H (CAB)
DECLARATION OF RONALD A. MARRON

1 I, Ronald A. Marron, declare:
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1.

I am a member in good standing of the State Bar of California.

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2.

My work experience and education began in 1984 when I enlisted in the United

4 States Marine Corps (1984-1990), soon thereafter, I received my Bachelor of Science in Finance
5 from the University of Southern California (1991). I interned at the California Department of
6 Corporations with emphasis in consumer fraud investigations while attending Southwestern
7 University School of Law (1992-1994). I was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1995 and
8 have been a member in good standing since that time. In 1998, I started my own law firm with an
9 emphasis in consumer fraud. My firm is now known as the Law Offices of Ronald A. Marron, A
10 Professional Law Corporation.
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3.

Over the years I have acquired extensive experience in class actions and other

12 complex litigation and have obtained large settlements as lead counsel. For example, I was
13 appointed Class Counsel in Peterman v. Midland Nat’l Life Ins., No. BC357194, (L.A. Co. Sup.
14 Ct.), which was litigated for over 4 years and achieved a settlement of approximately $60 million
15 for consumers.
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4.

I also served as Class Counsel in Clark v. Nat’l West Life Ins. Co., No. BC321681

17 (L.A. Co. Sup. Ct.), a class action that, after litigating the case for well over 6 years, resulted in a
18 settlement of approximately $25 million for consumers.
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5.

In Iorio v. Asset Mktg., No. 05cv00633 (S.D. Cal.), I was appointed Class Counsel

20 following class certification. Following nearly 6 years of intensive litigation, a settlement valued
21 at $110 million was reached in Iorio and approved on March 3, 2011, by the Honorable Judge
22 Sammartino.
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6.

My firm was also recently appointed Class Counsel and obtained class

24 certification in the matter of Tabares v. Equitrust Life Ins. Co., No. BC390195 (L.A. Co. Sup.
25 Ct.).
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In Re Ferrero Litigation, Case No. 3:11-CV-00205 H (CAB)
DECLARATION OF RONALD A. MARRON

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7.

My firm was also recently appointed Interim Class Counsel, together with the

2 Weston Firm, in a contested proceeding in the matter of Chacanaca v. Quaker Oats Co., 2011
3 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65023, at *8-9 (N.D. Cal. June 14, 2011) (“There is no question here that both
4 the Weston/Marron counsel . . . have ample experience handling class actions and complex
5 litigation. It is also clear that both have particular familiarity with suits involving issues of
6 mislabeling in the food industry.”).
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I am currently counsel in a number of additional putative class actions and complex

8 cases, including:
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• Stanley v. Bayer Healthcare, LLC, Case No. 11-cv-0862 IEG NLS (S.D. Cal.);

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• Lee v. DTG Operations, Inc., Case. No. 37-2011-00084470-CU-OE-CTL (C.D. Cal.);

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• Yrene v. The Quaker Oats Co., Case No. 5:10-CV-05398-PVT (N.D. Cal.);

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• Bruno v. Eckhart Corp., et al., Case No. 8:11-CV-00173-DOC-E (C.D. Cal.);

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• Pinson v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada, Case No. 37-2010-00100478 (S.D. Co.

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Sup. Ct.);

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• Salvatierra v. Sprint Solutions, Case No. 10-cv-2044 (S.D. Cal.);

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• Martinez v. Toll Brothers, et al., Case No. 09-cv-00937-CDJ (E.D. Penn.); and

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• In re Arena Pharm., No. 10-cv-2079 (S.D. Cal.).

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10.

Besides these cases, I have also represented plaintiffs victimized in other complex

19 cases such as Ponzi schemes, shareholder derivative suits, and securities fraud cases. I have
20 litigated hundreds of lawsuits and arbitrations against investment advisors and stockbrokers, such
21 as Morgan Stanley, LPL Financial, Merrill Lynch, Banc of America Securities, and Citigroup,
22 who placed clients into unsuitable investments, failed to diversify, and who violated the
23 Securities Acts of 1933 and/or 1934.
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11.

My firm is fully committed to prosecuting these actions against Ferrero to achieve

25 a successful outcome for the proposed Classes, and has the resources necessary to do so.
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In Re Ferrero Litigation, Case No. 3:11-CV-00205 H (CAB)
DECLARATION OF RONALD A. MARRON

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I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States that the foregoing is

2 true and correct.
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Executed on August 1, 2011, in San Diego, California.

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/s/ Ronald A. Marron
Ronald A. Marron

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DATED: August 1, 2011

Respectfully Submitted,
/s/Jack Fitzgerald
Jack Fitzgerald
THE WESTON FIRM
GREGORY S. WESTON
JACK FITZGERALD
MELANIE PERSINGER
888 Turquoise Street
San Diego, CA 92109
Telephone:
858 488 1672
Facsimile:
480 247 4553
LAW OFFICES OF RONALD
MARRON, APLC
RONALD A. MARRON
3636 4th Street, Suite 202
San Diego, CA 92103
Telephone:
619 696 9066
Facsimile:
619 564 6665
Interim Class Counsel

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In Re Ferrero Litigation, Case No. 3:11-CV-00205 H (CAB)
DECLARATION OF RONALD A. MARRON

A.