In Re: Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether ("MTBE") Products Liability Litigation

Filing 4320

TRANSCRIPT of Proceedings re: Conference held on 12/14/2010 before Judge Shira A. Scheindlin. Court Reporter/Transcriber: Andrew Walker, [phone]. Transcript may be viewed at the court public terminal or purchased through the Court Reporter/Transcriber before the deadline for Release of Transcript Restriction. After that date it may be obtained through PACER. Redaction Request due 1/1/2016. Redacted Transcript Deadline set for 1/11/2016. Release of Transcript Restriction set for 3/10/2016.(Siwik, Christine)

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OCEKMTBEC
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Speakerphone Conference

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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ORANGE COUNTY WATER DISTRICT,

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Plaintiff,

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v.
UNOCAL CORP, et al.,

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04 CV 04968 (SAS)

Defendants.
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New York, N.Y.
December 14, 2010
4:30 p.m.

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Before:
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HON. SHIRA A. SCHEINDLIN,
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District Judge
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APPEARANCES
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MILLER AXLINE & SAWYER
Attorneys for Plaintiff
MICHAEL AXLINE

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JEFFER MANGELS BUTLER & MITCHELL LLP
Attorneys for G&M OIL
EUDEEN CHANG
MONICA VU

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SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C.
[phone]

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Speakerphone Conference

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(In open court)

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THE COURT:

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MR. AXLINE:

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THE COURT:

Good afternoon -- is it Mr. Chang?

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MR. CHANG:

It's Eudeen Chang.

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Mr. Axline?
Yes.

Good afternoon, your Honor.

I also have my

colleague Monica Vu on the phone.

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MS. VU:

Good afternoon, your Honor.

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THE COURT:

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another matter, OK, got it.

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MS. VU:

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THE COURT:

Oh.

But I saw a long letter from --

That's coming up Thursday.
Before you speak, could you say your name?

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Because we're on a telephone conference and the court reporter

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has asked that you state your name each time you speak.

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So this is a rather simple and quick conference.

It

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just has to do with a discovery schedule and the parties of

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course were to meet and confer and propose an expedited

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discovery schedule.

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discovery can be completed by March 1st; is that right?

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MR. AXLINE:

And I gather you've agreed that fact

This is Mike Axline.

That's correct,

your Honor.
THE COURT:

So that's the easy part.

I also

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understand that you have not jointly proposed or finalized a

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proposal for expert discovery, and it seems to me that there's

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no reason we can't work that out today too.

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MR. AXLINE:

This is Mike Axline, your Honor.

SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C.
[phone]

The

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Speakerphone Conference

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parties in the larger case -- many of them are not on the

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phone -- have been meeting and conferring with respect to an

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expert discovery schedule, and that process is ongoing.

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would say it's been productive but hasn't resulted in a final

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request or recommendation yet.

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THE COURT:

I

Well, that's what I'm saying, Mr. Axline,

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that's what I'm saying.

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Why can't we get it done?

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MR. AXLINE:

I've lost patience with that idea.

We can, your Honor, but only G&M Oil and

OCWD are on this call.

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THE COURT:

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MR. AXLINE:

That's true.
I would expect that the expert discovery

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schedule for the larger case is not going to be affected by the

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fact discovery schedule that we have proposed to your Honor

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with respect to G&M.

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regarding progress on the expert discovery schedule is

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advisable?

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the rest of the parties can be on.

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However, do you think a conference

I think perhaps we should do that at a time when

THE COURT:

Do we have another scheduled general MTBE

conference after the premotion conference that's this Friday?

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MR. AXLINE:

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THE COURT:

Not until February, your Honor.
Oh.

Well, February what?

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But I don't see why it should wait.

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weeks from now.

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You don't know.

It's like six or seven

Why can't we do it in January?

MR. AXLINE:

This is Mike Axline, your Honor.

SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C.
[phone]

We

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Speakerphone Conference

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certainly could.

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to propose to you well before January, however, so --

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I would expect the parties to have something

THE COURT:

OK, so let's try it this way:

If I don't

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have a schedule by January 7th, then I want to have a telephone

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conference during the week of January 10th.

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them that to see if you can push this thing along.

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them, in the absence of a final schedule by January 7th, the

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judge wants to have telephone conference scheduled the week of

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January 10, OK?

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MR. AXLINE:

And you can tell

It's Mike Axline, your Honor.

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THE COURT:

I will

notify the parties of that.

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So tell

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Excellent.

So, will I be seeing you later

this week?
MR. AXLINE:

You will, your Honor.

The afternoon of

the Thursday.
THE COURT:

Thursday in person?

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transatlantic flight.

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Oh, boy, another

Mr. Chang and Ms. Vu.

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COUNSEL:

Thanks, Mr. Axline, and thank you,

Thank you, your Honor.
* * *

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SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C.
[phone]