Russell v. Werner Enterprises, Inc.

Filing 73

ORDER granting 65 Motion to Appoint Interim Class Counsel. Ordered by Senior Judge Lyle E. Strom. (MLF, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA
EZEQUIEL OLIVARES ABARCA,
)
individually and on behalf of )
all those similarly situated, )
)
Plaintiffs,
)
)
v.
)
)
WERNER ENTERPRISES, INC.,
)
DRIVERS MANAGEMENT, LLOC,
)
and DOES 1-100, inclusive,
)
)
Defendants.
)
______________________________)

8:14CV319

ORDER

This matter is before the Court on plaintiffs’ motion
to appoint interim class counsel under Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 23(g)(3) (Filing No. 65).

The defendants filed a brief

in opposition (Filing No. 66), to which the plaintiffs replied
(Filing No. 68).

After reviewing the motion, briefs, and

relevant law, the Court will grant the plaintiffs’ motion.
Law
Under Rule 23(g)(3), the Court may designate interim
class counsel before determining whether to certify the action as
a class action.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(g)(3).

When appointing class

counsel, the Court must consider the work counsel has done in
identifying and investigating potential claims, counsel’s
experience in handling class actions, counsel’s knowledge of the

applicable law, and the resources that counsel will commit to
representing the class.

See Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(g)(1)(A).

Discussion
The plaintiffs move this Court to appoint interim class
counsel and propose the appointment of James M. Sitkin of the Law
Offices of James M. Sitkin, Justin Swidler and Richard Swartz of
Swartz Swidler, LLC, and David Borgen, Laura L. Ho, and Raymond
A. Wendell of Goldstein, of Borgen, Dardarian & Ho.

In addition,

plaintiffs have provided the Court with declarations of the
counsel’s work on the current matter and previous experience in
class action litigation.

The defendants oppose the appointment

of class counsel until the Court rules on plaintiffs’ motion for
class certification.
The Court finds that Rule 23(g)(3) gives the Court
discretion to appoint interim class counsel before class
certification.

The proposed class counsel meets all the

requirements under Rule 23(g)(1)(A).
grant the plaintiffs’ motion.

Therefore, the Court will

Accordingly,

IT IS ORDERED that plaintiffs motion to appoint interim
class counsel is granted.
DATED this 9th day of September, 2015.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Lyle E. Strom
____________________________
LYLE E. STROM, Senior Judge
United States District Court