Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_15-cv-04403/USCOURTS-cand-3_15-cv-04403-3/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 370
Nature of Suit: Other Fraud
Cause of Action: 31:3731 Fraud

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United States District Court 

Northern District of Californi

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

IN RE: VOLKSWAGEN “CLEAN DIESEL” 

MARKETING, SALES PRACTICES, AND 

PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION 

_____________________________________/ 

This Order Relates To: 

ALL ACTIONS 

_______________________________________/

MDL No. 2672 CRB (JSC) 

PRETRIAL ORDER NO. 1 

 

 The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“the Panel”) has transferred certain 

marketing, sales practices, and products liability lawsuits relating to Volkswagen and other diesel 

vehicles to this Court for coordinated pretrial proceedings. As the number and complexity of 

these actions warrant holding a single, coordinated initial case management conference for all 

actions, the Court ORDERS as follows: 

 1. APPLICABILITY OF ORDER — Prior to the initial conference and entry of a 

comprehensive order governing all further proceedings in this case, the provisions of this Order 

shall govern the practice and procedure in those actions that were transferred to this Court by the 

Panel. This Order applies to all related cases filed in all divisions of the Northern District of 

California and all “tag-along actions” later filed in, removed to, or transferred to this Court. 

 2. CONSOLIDATION—The civil actions transferred to this Court or related to the 

actions already pending before this Court are consolidated for pretrial purposes. Any “tag-along 

actions” transferred to this Court, or directly filed in the Northern District of California, will 

automatically be consolidated with this action without the necessity of future motions or orders. 

This consolidation does not constitute a determination that the actions should be consolidated for 

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trial, nor does it have the effect of making any entity a party to any action in which he, she or it has 

not been named, served or added in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 

 3. DATE OF INITIAL CONFERENCE AND CONFERENCE AGENDA–The 

Court will conduct an initial conference on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 at 8:00 a.m. in 

Courtroom No. 6, 17th Floor, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco California. Lead defense 

counsel is required to appear in person at the conference. On or before Wednesday, December 16, 

2015, Defendants shall submit a written submission advising the Court as to the status of all 

litigation pending in this MDL matter. The submission shall also advise the Court of the steps 

Defendants have taken to preserve relevant evidence, including electronically stored information. 

Defense counsel shall be prepared at the December 22, 2015 conference to answer questions from 

the Court regarding the written submission, litigation status and evidence preservation. Plaintiffs’ 

counsel will be permitted to respond in writing. 

 4. LISTENING LIVE TO THE DECEMBER 22, 2015 STATUS 

CONFERENCE–Consistent with Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 1’s command that the courts 

and parties construe, administer and employ the Rules “to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive 

determination of every action and proceeding,” counsel, other than lead defense counsel, may 

listen to the December 22, 2015 conference through CourtCall and thus need not incur the expense 

and burden of attending this conference in person. Access to the conference may be arranged by 

calling CourtCall at (866) 582-6878 not later than 5:00 p.m. on December 21, 2015. CourtCall 

participants may only listen to the proceedings. 

 5. APPOINTMENT OF PLAINTIFFS’ STEERING COMMITTEE(S)–The Court 

intends to appoint a Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee(s) to conduct and coordinate the pretrial stage 

of this litigation with the defendants’ representatives or committee. The Court will issue a further 

order governing the schedule and procedure for the appointment of Plaintiffs’ Steering 

Committee(s) and anticipates that the applications for appointment will be due Friday, January 8, 

2016, responses/objections due Thursday, January 14, 2016, with a hearing scheduled for January 

21, 2016, although this schedule may change. 

 6. MASTER DOCKET FILE—The Clerk of Court will maintain a master docket 

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United States District Court 

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case file under the style “In re: Volkswagen ‘Clean Diesel’ Marketing, Sales Practices, and 

Products Liability Litigation” and the identification “MDL 2672.” When a pleading is intended to 

apply to all actions, this shall be indicated by the words: “This Document Relates to: ALL 

ACTIONS.” When a pleading is intended to apply to fewer than all cases, this Court’s docket 

number for each individual case to which the document number relates shall appear immediately 

after the words “This Document Relates to.” 

 7. FILING---Each attorney of record is obligated to become a Northern District of 

California ECF User and be assigned a user ID and password for access to the system. If she or he 

has not already done so, counsel shall register forthwith as an ECF User and be issued an ECF 

User ID and password. Forms and instructions can be found on the Court’s website at 

www.cand.uscourts.gov/cm-ecf. All documents shall be e-filed in the Master file, 15-MD-2672. 

Documents that pertain to one or only some of the pending actions shall also be e-filed in the 

individual case(s) to which the document pertains. Registration instructions for pro se parties who 

wish to e-file can be found on the Court’s website at 

www.cand.uscourts.gov/ECF/proseregistration. 

 8. APPEARANCES—Counsel who are not admitted to practice before the Northern 

District of California must file an application to be admitted pro hac vice. See N.D. Cal. Civil 

Local Rule 11-3. The requirement that pro hac vice counsel retain local counsel, see N.D. Cal. 

Civil Local Rule 11-3(a)(3) and 11-3(e), is waived and does not apply to this MDL action. 

9. RESPONSE EXTENSION AND STAY—Defendants are granted an extension of 

time for responding by motion or answer to the complaints until a date to be set by this Court. 

Pending further order of this Court, all outstanding discovery proceedings are stayed, and no 

further discovery shall be initiated. Moreover, all pending motions must be renoticed for 

resolution once the Court sets a schedule for any such motions. 

 10. PRESERVATION OF EVIDENCE—All parties and counsel are reminded of 

their duty to preserve evidence that may be relevant to this action, including electronically stored 

information. Any evidence preservation order previously entered in any of the transferred actions 

shall remain in full force and effect until further order of the Court. Until the parties reach an 

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agreement on a preservation plan for all cases or the Court orders otherwise, each party shall take 

reasonable steps to preserve all evidence that may be relevant to this litigation. Counsel, as 

officers of the court, are obligated to exercise all reasonable efforts to identify and notify parties 

and non-parties, including employees of corporate or institutional parties, of their preservation 

obligations. 

 11. SETTLEMENT MASTER—All parties are invited to file any suggestions of 

person(s) to appoint as Special Settlement Master. The submissions must be filed on or before 

December 22, 2015 and each submission shall not exceed three pages. Any responses/objections 

and/or support for persons suggested by other parties shall be filed on or before January 6, 2016.

 12. CASE WEBSITE---The Court will maintain a website--accessible to counsel, 

parties, the public and the press free of charge--at cand.uscourts.gov/crb/vwmdl. The website will 

include a list of dates and times of upcoming proceedings, along with significant court orders and 

other documents. 

 IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: December 9, 2015 

______________________________________ 

CHARLES R. BREYER 

United States District Judge 

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