Dunstan et al v. comScore, Inc.

Filing 16

DECLARATION of Ray Sardo in support of Comscore's motion to dismiss under rule 12(b)(3) or, in the alternative, to transfer venue under 28 U.S.C. 1404(A) 12 (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Exhibit D, # 5 Exhibit E, # 6 Exhibit F)(Hudson, Leonard) (Docket Text modified by Clerks' Office.)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS, EASTERN DIVISION
MIKE HARRIS and JEFF DUNSTAN,
Individually and on behalf of a class of
similarly Situated individuals,
Plaintiff,
v.
COMSCORE, INC., a Delaware corporation,
Defendant.

)
)
)
)
) Case No. 1:11-5807
)
) Hon. James F. Holderman
)
)
)
)
)

DECLARATION OF RAY SARDO IN SUPPORT OF COMSCORE’S
MOTION TO DISMISS UNDER RULE 12(B)(3) OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE,
TO TRANSFER VENUE UNDER 28 U.S.C. 1404(A)

I, Ray Sardo, declare as follows:
1.

I make this declaration based on my personal knowledge and, if called upon to

testify as a witness, I could and would testify competently thereto.
2.

I am an attorney licensed to practice at the law firm Cooley LLP (“Cooley”).

3.

On September 20, 2011, I visited Plaintiffs’ counsel’s website at the following

URL: http://edelsonmcguire.com/. Once there, I clicked on a link towards the bottom of the page
entitled “Contact Us” and was taken to a webpage indicating that Plaintiffs’ counsel, Edelson
McGuire, has offices in “Chicago,” “Denver,” “Florida,” “California,” and “New York.”
4.

While visiting the website for Edelson McGuire, I navigated to the following

URL: http://edelsonmcguire.com/insidethefirm/#page_1. From there, I clicked on a hyperlink
entitled “Press Articles.” The hyperlink took me to a webpage that I downloaded and printed. I
have attached a true and correct copy of the webpage to my Declaration as Exhibit “A”. I
reviewed the articles listed in Exhibit A, including additional content that can be accessed from

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Exhibit A by clicking on the “read more” hyperlinks appended to the end of each article
summary. From my review, I noticed that four of the articles referenced Edelson McGuire’s
litigation accomplishments in Missouri and Nevada. For ease of convenience, these articles are
entitled: “Federal Judge Allows Casino Smoking Case to Proceed Against Wynn Las Vegas”;
“eBay Sued for Discriminating Against Deaf Sellers”; “Lawsuit Alleges eBay Violates
Disabilities Laws”; and “Wynn Seeks Dismissal of Second-Hand Smoke Suit.” The articles
appear on pages 6, 9, 10, and 14 of Exhibit A, respectively.
5.

On September 19, 2011, a member of my law firm’s research department

reviewed, at my request and under my supervision, the federal court docket to determine whether
Edelson McGuire or Jay Edelson were involved in litigation in eight states or commonwealths
with reasonable proximity to Virginia. The review, which was limited to federal courts,
indicated that Edelson McGuire and/or Jay Edelson had recently litigated cases in Massachusetts
and Pennsylvania. Cooley’s research staff provided me with a complaint corresponding to an
action Jay Edelson filed in Massachusetts, and a federal court docket corresponding to an action
Edelson McGuire filed in Pennsylvania. I have attached true and correct copies of the Complaint
and docket to my Declaration as Exhibit “B” and “C,” respectively. The review also indicated
that Jay Edelson’s previous firm, KamberEdelson, had litigated cases in other states, such as
Connecticut. I have attached to my declaration, as Exhibit D a true and correct copy of a
law.com article I located on the Internet indicating that KamberEdelson dissolved in January
2010, and Edelson McGuire was formed at that time.
6.

On September 21, 2011, I visited a website maintained by the Administrative

Office of the United States Courts that sets forth a number of statistics related to the United
States District Courts, including: (1) the United Stated District Court for the Northern District of
Illinois; and (2) the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. This website
can

be

accessed

via

the

following

http://www.uscourts.gov/Statistics/FederalCourtManagementStatistics.aspx.

URL:

Once there, I

clicked on a hyperlink to a March 2011 table pertaining to district courts. The hyperlink is
2.
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entitled “District Courts”.

From there, I utilized the drop down menu to select “Virginia

Eastern,” which took me to a webpage corresponding to the Eastern District of Virginia. I
download and printed that webpage and have attached a true and correct copy of it to my
Declaration as Exhibit “E”. I utilized the same drop down menu to select “Illinois Northern,”
which took me to a webpage corresponding to the Northern District of Illinois. I downloaded
and printed that webpage and have attached a true and correct copy of it to my Declaration as
Exhibit “F”.
7.

Exhibit E shows that, as of September 30, 2010, the median time from the filing

of a civil case to trial in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, is 9.3
months. In contrast, Exhibit F shows that, as of the same date, the median time from the filing
of a civil case to trial in the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, is 28.2
months.

3.
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I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on September 27, 2011, at San Francisco, California.
Dated: September 27, 2011
Respectfully submitted,
COMSCORE, INC.

By: /s/ Ray Sardo
One of Its Attorneys

Of counsel (pro hac vice applications pending):
Michael G. Rhodes, [e-mail]
Whitty Somvichian, [e-mail]
Ray Sardo, [e-mail]
COOLEY LLP
101 California Street, 5th Floor
San Francisco, California 94111
Local counsel
David Z. Smith (ARDC #6256687)
Leonard E. Hudson (ARDC # 6293044)
REED SMITH LLP
10 South Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606-7507
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]

1.
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
The undersigned attorney certifies that he or she caused a copy of the foregoing document to be
served on counsel listed below via the Court’s CM/ECF online filing system this 28th day of
September, 2011.
/s/ Leonard E. Hudson
Attorney for Defendant comScore, Inc.

TO:
Steven W. Teppler
William C. Gray
Ari J. Scharg
EDELSON MCGUIRE LLC
350 North LaSalle Street, Suite 1300
Chicago, Illinois 60654
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Attorneys for Plaintiff
MIKE HARRIS and the Putative Class

US_ACTIVE-107381899.1-LEHUDSON 9/28/11 9:52 AM