United States of America et al v. Dish Network LLC
Filing
850
OPINION Entered by Judge Sue E. Myerscough on 02/14/2018. SEE WRITTEN OPINION. The Court ordered the following schedule: The parties shall report by February 16, 2018, the availability of witnesses and parties during the period beginning the wee k of June 17, 2018 through the first week of July 2018. Plaintiffs shall provide Dish with the facts and data underlying the opinions of Dr. Yoeli and D'Amours by February 22, 2018. Dish shall disclose to the Plaintiffs all additional witness es and documents that Dish intends to present at the Hearing by April 16, 2018. Dish shall disclose rebuttal expert reports by April 16, 2018. Dish shall disclose the facts and data underlying the rebuttal opinions by April 26, 2018. The partie s shall file all pre-hearing motions by May 1, 2018. The parties shall complete all expert discovery, including expert depositions, by May 21, 2018. The parties shall file simultaneous pre-Hearing briefs on June 1, 2018. The parties shall file simultaneous post-Hearing briefs two weeks after the completion of the Hearing. Upon review of the parties' reports on availability of witnesses and parties, the Court shall set the Hearing. (DM, ilcd)
E-FILED
Wednesday, 14 February, 2018 02:55:16 PM
Clerk, U.S. District Court, ILCD
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD
DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
and the STATES of
CALIFORNIA, ILLINOIS,
OHIO, and
NORTH CAROLINA,
Plaintiffs,
v.
DISH NETWORK, LLC,
Defendant.
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No. 09-3073
OPINION
SUE E. MYERSCOUGH, U.S. District Judge:
This matter came before the Court on February 13, 2018 for a
status hearing for Defendant Dish Network, LLC’s (Dish) Notice of
Hearing Request (d/e 847) (Dish Notice) pursuant to Section I of the
Amended Order for Permanent Injunction (d/e 822) (Injunction
Order). Plaintiff United States appeared by Assistant U.S. Attorneys
Lisa Hsiao and Patrick Runkle; Plaintiff State of California appeared
by Assistant Attorney General Jinsook Ohta; Plaintiff State of
Illinois appeared by Assistant Attorneys General Paul A. Isaac and
Elizabeth Blackston; Plaintiff State of Ohio appeared by Assistant
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Attorneys General Jeffrey Loeser and Erin Leahy; and Plaintiff State
of North Carolina appeared by Assistant Attorney General Teresa
Townsend. Federal Trade Commission Attorneys Russell Deitch
and Gary Ivens also appeared. Defendants appeared by their
attorneys Elyse Echtman, John Ewald, and Lauri Mazzuchetti.
Dish in-house attorneys Lawrence Katzin and Brett Kitei also
appeared at the hearing.1
Section I of the Injunction Order directed Dish to prove the
Demonstration Requirements to the Plaintiffs to the Plaintiffs’
satisfaction within 120 days of the Effective Date of the Injunction
Order, or October 3, 2017. Injunction Order at 12.2 Dish provided
its proof to the Plaintiffs on October 3, 2017 (October 3, 2017
Evidence). See Dish Network L.L.C.’s Notice of Telemarketing
Compliance Plan (d/e 829). The Injunction Order directed the
Plaintiffs to notify the Court if they were not satisfied. The Plaintiffs
did so Friday February 2, 2018. Plaintiffs’ Notice of Dish’s Failure
to Meet this Court’s Demonstration Requirements (d/e 844)
1 Illinois Assistant Attorneys Isaac and Blackston and Dish attorneys Echtman and Ewald
appeared in person. Assistant Attorney General Hsiao and FTC Attorneys Deitch and Ivens
appeared by videoconference. All other participants appeared by telephone.
2 “Demonstration Requirements” and “Effective Date” are defined terms in the Injunction
Order.
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(Plaintiffs’ Notice). The Plaintiffs’ Notice included expert opinions of
Dr. Erez Yoeli and Norman D’Amours. Plaintiffs’ Notice, Appendices
A and B, Declarations of Norman D’Amours and Dr. Erez Yoeli.
Dish then had two business days to request a hearing. Injunction
Order, § I, at 12. Dish did so on Tuesday February 7, 2018. Dish
Notice. The Injunction Order stated that the hearing would be held
within 30 days and no discovery would be taken prior to the
hearing. Dish has the burden of proof at the hearing to prove the
Demonstration Requirements to the Court. Injunction Order, at 13.
The Court called the Status Hearing to discuss the hearing
(Hearing) to be held pursuant to the Dish Notice. The Court
explained to the parties that the prohibition on discovery did not
limit the evidence that Dish could produce at the Hearing to just
the October 3, 2017 Evidence. Dish may produce additional
evidence to clarify or expand upon the October 3, 2017 Evidence.
The additional evidence may include rebuttal expert witnesses to
respond to the opinions of Plaintiffs’ experts Dr. Yoeli and
D’Amours. The Court decided at the Status Hearing to allow expert
discovery prior to the Hearing, including expert discovery requests
and expert depositions. The Court further determined that the
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parties would need more than 30 days to conduct expert discovery
and prepare for the hearing.
The Court and the parties discussed the timing of the hearing.
The Plaintiffs estimated a hearing of eight to nine hours of court
time for their presentation. Dish estimated a hearing would take
two weeks of court time. The Court and the parties discussed
holding the hearing sometime during the second half of June and
the first week of July 2018. The Court directed the parties to
determine the availability of parties and witnesses during that time.
The Court ordered the following schedule:
The parties shall report by February 16, 2018, the availability
of witnesses and parties during the period beginning the week
of June 17, 2018 through the first week of July 2018.
Plaintiffs shall provide Dish with the facts and data
underlying the opinions of Dr. Yoeli and D’Amours by
February 22, 2018.
Dish shall disclose to the Plaintiffs all additional witnesses and
documents that Dish intends to present at the Hearing by
April 16, 2018.
Dish shall disclose rebuttal expert reports by April 16, 2018.
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Dish shall disclose the facts and data underlying the rebuttal
opinions by April 26, 2018.
The parties shall file all pre-hearing motions by May 1, 2018.
The parties shall complete all expert discovery, including
expert depositions, by May 21, 2018.
The parties shall file simultaneous pre-Hearing briefs on June
1, 2018.
The parties shall file simultaneous post-Hearing briefs two
weeks after the completion of the Hearing.
Upon review of the parties’ reports on availability of witnesses
and parties, the Court shall set the Hearing.
ENTER: February 14, 2018
s/ Sue E. Myerscough
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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