City of Providence v. Warner Chilcott Publict Limited Company

Filing 7

PRELIMINARY CASE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE ORDER. So Ordered by Judge William E. Smith on 10/25/13. (Jackson, Ryan)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND
___________________________________
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)
LOESTRIN 24 FE ANTITRUST
)
LITIGATION
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___________________________________)

C.A. No. 1:13-md-02472-S

PRELIMINARY CASE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE ORDER
WILLIAM E. SMITH, United States District Judge.
This preliminary case management order, and subsequent such
orders, shall govern the practice and procedure in those actions
transferred to this Court by the United States Judicial Panel on
Multidistrict Litigation, pursuant to a Transfer Order filed on
October

3,

2013

(ECF

No.

1). 1

To

aid

in

the

proper

administration of this complex matter, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:
1)

Initial Conference
a.

Counsel shall appear for an initial status conference on
November

4,

2013

at

1:00

p.m.

in

the

United

States

Courthouse Jury Assembly Room – first floor – One Exchange
Terrace, Providence, Rhode Island.
b.

Service List.

This order is being distributed to those

persons identified on the dockets for the matters listed
1

These actions are: (1) 1:13-cv-02476; (2) 1:13-cv-02473;
(3) 1:13-cv-02475; (4) 1:13-cv-00347; (5) 1:13-cv-02474; and (6)
1:13-cv-00307.
This order will also apply to related matters
that may be filed in this Court or transferred to this Court by
the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation hereafter,
including, but not limited to, 1:13-cv-00695.
1

in Footnote 1 on the CM/ECF Electronic Document Filing
System for the District of Rhode Island.

Counsel on this

list shall forward a copy of the order to any attorneys
who

should

be

notified

presently on the list.
email

to

the

of

the

conference

but

are

not

Counsel are instructed to file, by

calendar

clerk,

([e-mail]),

a

Ryan

list

of

Jackson
attorneys

affiliated with this litigation who should be included on
a service list for future use.

An attorney representing

multiple parties should be included on this list only
once.
2)

Purposes and Agenda
a.

The conference will be held for the purposes generally
identified in Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 16 and
26(f).

b.

Specific
tentative

matters
agenda,

to

be

discussed

appended

as

are

contained

Attachment

A.

in

a

Counsel

should be prepared to discuss all issues listed in this
agenda, and are encouraged to advise the Court by email to
the calendar clerk, no later than October 30, 2013, of any
items that should be added to the agenda.
3)

Preparations for Conference
a.

Counsel are expected to familiarize themselves with the
most recent edition of the Manual for Complex Litigation
2

and

should

be

procedures

prepared

that

will

at

the

facilitate

conference

to

the

speedy

just,

inexpensive resolution of this matter.
expected

to

be

familiar

with

the

discuss
and

Counsel are also

Local

Rules

of

the

District of Rhode Island, which will apply in this case
unless otherwise directed by the Court.
b.

Pre-Conference Obligation to Meet and Confer.

Prior to

the conference, counsel shall confer and seek consensus to
the extent possible with respect to the matters listed in
the agenda, as well as a suggested schedule under Rule
16(b).
c.

Pre-Conference

Statement

of

the

Case.

Prior

to

the

conference, counsel shall submit to the Court by email to
the calendar clerk (and not filed on CM/ECF) a brief,
consolidated
written

(one

for

statement

understanding

of

the

plaintiffs;
indicating
facts

one

for

their

involved

and

defendants)
preliminary

the

critical

factual and legal issues (not to exceed 10 pages).

These

statements are meant to be an aid to the Court and are
nonbinding, will not waive any claims or defenses, and may
not be offered into evidence in later proceedings.

These

statements shall list any pending motions, and related
cases,

if

any,

currently

pending

in

state

court, and their current status, if known.
3

or

federal

d.

To assist the Court in identifying any issues of recusal
and disqualification of the Magistrate Judge, counsel will
submit to the Court prior to the conference by email to
the calendar clerk a list of all companies affiliated with
the

parties

litigation.

and

all

counsel

associated

See Fed. R. Civ. P. 7.1.

with

the

Further, counsel

shall inquire of their clients whether any legal advice or
opinions have been sought in connection with the subject
matter of these cases from Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP, and
if

so,

shall

notify

the

Court

by

letter

(such

a

notification may be submitted ex parte if so desired) by
October 30, 2013.
4)

Attorney Admission
a.

All attorneys who wish to be admitted for purposes of this
case shall comply with Local Rule 204 and shall file an
appropriate motion for admission prior to the conference.

b.

All attorneys who have been admitted to this Court shall
complete
prior

to

and
the

file

CM/ECF

conference.

Court’s website:
c.

a

attorney
Forms

can

registration
be

found

on

form
the

www.rid.uscourts.gov.

For the time-being, parties to these actions shall not be
required to obtain local counsel in the District of Rhode
Island

and

the

requirements

of

Local

Rule

204(e)

are

temporarily waived as to any attorney appearing in these
4

actions who is admitted to practice before any United
States court.

This issue will be discussed further at the

conference.
5)

Electronic Filing and Document Captioning
a.

All documents filed in the multidistrict litigation shall
be

filed

electronically

on

the

Court’s

CM/ECF

system

online at ecf.rid.uscourts.gov.
b.

All documents filed in these actions shall be styled in
the same manner as this order, with the docket number
1:13-md-02472-S, and shall be filed in that case.

If the

document relates to all actions, the docket number shall
be

followed

with

the

notation

“ALL

CASES.”

If

the

document does not relate to all actions, the individual
docket number(s) of those action(s) to which the document
relates shall also be listed.
c.

The Court expects to require the filing of a consolidated
complaint

and

may

make

other

reduce duplicative filings.

directives

to

avoid

and

All counsel are expected to

make every effort to avoid duplicate filings.

Any filing

in these matters that is substantially identical to any
other filing in these matters shall be sufficient if it
incorporates

by

reference

substantially identical.

the

filing

to

which

it

is

Where counsel for more than one

5

party intend to file substantially identical documents,
they shall join in the submission of a single filing.

Providence, Rhode Island
October 25, 2013
IT IS SO ORDERED.

/s/ William E. Smith
William E. Smith
U.S. District Judge

6

ATTACHMENT A
TENTATIVE AGENDA
1.

Introduction of participants;

2.

Overview of the case – each side shall have 10-15 minutes
to summarize the case merits/procedures, etc.
Counsel
shall determine who will present for each side;

3.

Expectations regarding additional cases to be consolidated;

4.

Schedule for filing of consolidated complaint;

5.

Schedule for possible Motion(s) to Dismiss and/or Answer;

6.

Application process for appointment of lead counsel and
discussion of whether appointment of separate lead counsel
for different cases will be necessary;

7.

Waiver of Local
requirement;

8.

Settlement
mediator;

9.

Discussion of pending and/or anticipated motions;

Rule

process,

204(e)

including

regarding

timing

and

local

counsel

selection

of

a

10. Discussion of discovery schedule with specific attention to
e-Discovery issues and the role of the Magistrate Judge;
11. Utilization of monthly status reports regarding progress of
discovery, motions pending, settlement, etc.;
12. Expert discovery
issues;

–

expected

experts,

discovery,

Daubert

13. Class certification schedule and process;
14. Discussion of issues related to summary judgment motions;
15. Other issues identified by counsel.

7