Hohenberg v. Ferrero USA, Inc

Filing 9

RESPONSE to Motion re 8 MOTION to Consolidate Cases MOTION to Appoint Counsel Defendant Ferrero U.S.A., Inc.'s Response to Plaintiff's Motion to Consolidate and to Appoint Lead Counsel filed by Ferrero USA, Inc. (Attachments: # 1 Proof of Service)(Bish, Dale) (leh).

Hohenberg v. Ferrero USA, Inc

Doc. 9

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KEITH E. EGGLETON, State Bar No. 159842 COLLEEN BAL, State Bar No. 167637 DALE R. BISH, State Bar No. 235390 AMIR STEINHART, State Bar No. 275037 WILSON SONSINI GOODRICH & ROSATI Professional Corporation 650 Page Mill Road Palo Alto, CA 94304-1050 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] Attorneys for Defendant FERRERO U.S.A, INC. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA ATHENA HOHENBERG, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) CASE NO.: 11CV0205H CAB

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DEFENDANT FERRERO U.S.A., INC.'S RESPONSE TO MOTION TO CONSOLIDATE AND TO APPROVE LEAD COUNSEL, CASE NO. 11CV0205H CAB

v. FERRERO U.S.A., INC., a foreign corporation, Defendant.

DEFENDANT FERRERO U.S.A., INC.'S RESPONSE TO PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO CONSOLIDATE AND TO APPOINT LEAD COUNSEL
Date: March 28, 2011 Time: 10:30 a.m. Location: Courtroom 13 Judge: Hon. Marilyn L. Huff

4291853

Dockets.Justia.com

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On February 23, 2011, Athena Hohenberg (plaintiff in this matter) along with Laura RudeBarbato (plaintiff in the related case, Rude-Barbato v. Ferrero U.S.A., Case No. 11-cv-00249 H CAB) filed a motion with this Court for an order (1) consolidating the two related matters; and (2) appointing their respective counsel, The Law Offices of Ronald A. Marron and The Weston Firm, as Interim Lead Co-Class Counsel. As indicated in plaintiffs' motion, defendant Ferrero U.S.A., Inc. ("Ferrero") stipulated to the consolidation of the actions. Ferrero takes no position on the appointment of Lead Counsel. In addition to the two actions pending before this Court, Ferrero was recently served with two additional class action complaints ­ one in the District of New Jersey (Glover v. Ferrero U.S.A., Case No. 11-cv-010860) and one in the Superior Court of New Jersey (Metcalf v. Ferrero USA, Inc., SOM-L-367-11) ­ that contain substantially similar allegations and causes of action, and that seek the same relief as the two actions pending before this Court. Therefore, in order to avoid duplicative litigation in two district courts, Ferrero intends to file a motion to transfer these proceedings to the District of New Jersey, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404, given that Ferrero's principal place of business is located in New Jersey, as are its employees and documents. Notwithstanding its anticipated motion to transfer, Ferrero continues to believe the two proceedings pending before this Court can and should be consolidated and takes no position regarding the appointment of Lead Counsel.

Dated: March 14, 2011

WILSON SONSINI GOODRICH & ROSATI Professional Corporation By: s/ Dale Bish Dale Bish Attorneys for Defendant Ferrero U.S.A., Inc. E-mail: [e-mail]

DEFENDANT FERRERO U.S.A., INC.'S RESPONSE TO MOTION TO CONSOLIDATE, APPROVE LEAD COUNSEL, CASE NO. 11CV0205H CAB