Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_15-md-02672/USCOURTS-cand-3_15-md-02672-87/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 370
Nature of Suit: Other Fraud
Cause of Action: 15:2301 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act

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[PROPOSED] PRETRIAL ORDER NO. ___: TESTIFYING EXPERT DISCOVERY PROTOCOL

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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 (except securities 

actions)

MDL No. 2672 CRB (JSC)

PRETRIAL ORDER NO. 19 

STIPULATION AND ORDER RELATING TO 

TESTIFYING EXPERT DISCOVERY 

PROTOCOL

Hon. Charles R. Breyer

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

This Order applies to all Parties to the Action.1 This Order provides the protocols 

applicable to conducting discovery relating to testifying Expert witnesses, including depositions 

of testifying Experts, in this Action. Nothing in this Order shall preclude any Party from seeking 

to modify it later for good cause; prior to doing so, however, Outside Counsel of Record shall 

meet and confer among themselves in a good-faith effort to reach agreement as to the appropriate 

scope of any modifications or revisions to this Order. 

II. GOVERNING LAW

Expert discovery shall be governed by the applicable provisions of the Federal Rules of 

Civil Procedure, except as otherwise provided herein or in any other order in this Action. Unless 

specifically modified herein, nothing in this Order shall be construed to abrogate, modify, or 

enlarge the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This Order does not supersede prior pretrial orders 

entered in this Action, including but not limited to Pretrial Order No. 13: Coordination Order 

 

1 Unless otherwise specified, all capitalized terms not otherwise defined herein have the meanings ascribed to them 

in Pretrial Order No. 12: Stipulated Protective Order (Docket No. 1255) (“PTO 12”).

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[PROPOSED] PRETRIAL ORDER NO. ___: TESTIFYING EXPERT DISCOVERY PROTOCOL

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(Docket No. 1256) (“PTO 13”), and Pretrial Order No. 16: Privilege Order (Docket No. 1387). 

To the extent anything contained in prior pretrial orders is inconsistent with the provisions set 

forth herein, this Order shall control with respect to Expert discovery. 

III. DISCOVERY RELATING TO EXPERTS

A. Sequence for Expert Reports 

Expert reports shall be served sequentially: first, Plaintiffs shall serve Expert reports; 

then, Defendants shall serve Expert reports; then, Plaintiffs shall serve any appropriate rebuttal 

Expert reports. The Parties shall meet and confer to discuss the extent to which this sequence 

should be modified for expert reports relating to claims brought by the Federal Trade 

Commission in its complaint and, if the Parties are unable to agree, any disputes shall be 

submitted to the Court for resolution at any time. 

Pursuant to Section III.F hereof, the Parties shall meet and confer regarding a specific 

schedule for service of Expert reports.

B. Non-Discoverability of Certain Expert-Related Materials 

1. With respect to testifying Experts who must provide a written report 

pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(B), the following materials shall not be subject to discovery 

or production:

a. Unless utilized as a basis to form any opinions rendered in this 

Action, any notes taken by, for, or at the direction of an Expert, the Expert’s staff, or others 

retained to assist the Expert during the course of the Expert’s work in connection with the 

Action.

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b. Unless utilized as a basis to form any opinions rendered in this 

Action, communications between and among an Expert and that Expert’s staff or others retained 

to assist the Expert.

c. Unless utilized as a basis to form any opinions rendered in this 

Action, communications between and among Counsel for a Party and Experts retained on behalf 

of that Party, those Experts’ staff, or others retained to assist such Experts.

d. Drafts of Expert reports or portions thereof.

2. The Parties are not required to produce or exchange privilege logs 

reflecting any of the aforementioned items that are not subject to discovery or production 

pursuant to this Order.

C. Expert-Related Materials To Be Disclosed 

1. A testifying Expert who must provide a written report pursuant to Fed. R. 

Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(B) shall disclose the information identified in Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(B)(i) –

(vi) in his or her Expert report or rebuttal Expert report. Any mathematical calculations or 

supporting data disclosed pursuant to this provision shall be provided in native format. The 

Parties shall meet and confer regarding disclosure of any mathematical calculations or supporting 

data that use or rely on computer software or programs other than retail software. 

2. The Parties shall meet and confer concerning any witnesses providing 

expert testimony who are not required to provide a written report pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 

26(a)(2)(C). 

3. Notwithstanding Section III.B, upon request, a Party shall disclose the 

information identified in Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(4)(C)(i) – (iii). 

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D. Expert Depositions

1. Except as otherwise provided in this Order, or otherwise agreed by the 

Parties, the Deposition Protocol to be entered in this Action as a Pretrial Order shall govern the 

processes and procedures with which Parties shall comply in connection with the taking of 

Expert depositions. 

2. Length of examination. Following issuance of Expert reports, the Parties 

shall meet and confer to determine a presumptive length of Expert depositions, as well as any 

procedures for modifying that presumptive length to account for, among other things, depositions 

in which counsel in State Court “Clean Diesel” Cases examine the Expert. 

3. Location of Expert depositions. The Parties shall meet and confer 

regarding the location of the depositions of Expert witnesses. 

4. Number of depositions. Absent agreement of the Parties or leave of the 

Court, no Expert may be deposed more than once in this Action, unless that Expert submits a 

rebuttal or sur-rebuttal report, or any substantive amendments or supplements to any reports, 

after the date of such deposition. 

5. Participation by State Court Counsel. The Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee 

and the Defendants intend to coordinate discovery with the State Court “Clean Diesel” Cases to 

the maximum extent feasible, and it is those Parties’ intent that, wherever practicable, Expert 

witnesses should not be deposed separately in this Action and in a State Court “Clean Diesel” 

Case.2

 Accordingly, plaintiffs in State Court “Clean Diesel” Cases are invited to attend and 

 

2 Notwithstanding the foregoing, each Expert in this Action may be deposed in this Action even if that Expert is 

deposed in a State Court “Clean Diesel” Case. 

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participate in depositions of Experts in this Action, pursuant to the procedures and conditions set 

forth below:

a. Limitations on Attendance. A plaintiff in a State Court “Clean 

Diesel” Case may attend the deposition in this Action of any Defendant Expert witness if (i) the 

plaintiff has submitted an export report in the State Court “Clean Diesel” Case on the issue(s) as 

to which the Defendant Expert is expected to testify, and (ii) the Defendant on whose behalf the 

Expert is testifying is also a defendant in the State Court “Clean Diesel” Case. No plaintiff in a 

State Court “Clean Diesel” Case may attend the deposition of any United States government 

Expert witness without prior written consent by the United States or Federal Trade Commission, 

as applicable. 

b. Attendance as Agreement. If a plaintiff in a State Court “Clean 

Diesel” Case attends a deposition of an Expert witness in this Action (either in person or 

remotely), that plaintiff shall be deemed to have agreed not to seek an additional deposition of 

that Expert witness in the relevant State Court “Clean Diesel” Case. 

E. Costs

The Parties shall meet and confer after the entry of this Order to determine the allocation 

of Expert-related costs.

F. Schedule

The Parties shall meet and confer after the entry of this Order regarding a proposed 

schedule for the issuance of Expert reports and the taking of related Expert depositions.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: May 19, 2016

CHARLES R. BREYER

United States District Judge

SO STIPULATED.

DATED: May 11, 2016 LIEFF, CABRASER, HEIMANN

AND BERNSTEIN L.L.P.

ELIZABETH J. CABRASER (83151) 

/s/ Elizabeth J. Cabraser

275 Battery St., 29th Floor

San Francisco, CA 94111-3339

Tel: (415) 956-1000

Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel

DATED: May 11, 2016 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

/s/ Joshua H. Van Eaton

Environmental Enforcement Section

Environment and Natural Resources Division

United States Department of Justice

P.O. Box 7611

Washington, D.C. 20044-7611

Telephone: (202) 514-5474

Facsimile: (202) 514-0097

Josh.Van.Eaton@usdoj.gov

Coordinating Counsel for the United States

DATED: May 11, 2016 FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

/s/ Jonathan Cohen

600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, CC-9528

Washington, DC 20580

(202) 326-2551 -3197 (fax)

Counsel for Plaintiff Federal Trade Commission

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DATED: May 11, 2016 /s/ Robert J. Giuffra, Jr.

Robert J. Giuffra, Jr.

Sharon L. Nelles

William B. Monahan

John G. McCarthy

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

125 Broad Street

New York, NY 10004

Telephone: (212) 558-4000

Facsimile: (212) 558-3358

giuffrar@sullcrom.com

Co-Liason Counsel for Volkswagen Group 

Defendants

/s/ Jeffrey L. Chase

HERZFELD & RUBIN, P.C.

New York, NY

Telephone: (212) 471-8500

Facsimile: (212) 344-3333

jchase@sullcrom.com

Co-Liason Counsel for Volkswagen Group 

Defendants

/s/ Cari K. Dawson

Cari K. Dawson

Allston & Bird LLP

One Atlantic Center

1201 West Peachtree Street

Atlanta, GA 30309-3424

Telephone: (404) 881-7766

Facsimile: (404) 253-8567

cari.dawson@alston.com

Liason Counsel for Porsche Cars 

North America, Inc.

/s/ Matthew D. Slater 

Matthew D. Slater

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

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2000 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20006

(202) 974-1500 (Phone)

(202) 974-1999 (Facsimile)

mslater@cgsh.com

Counsel for Robert Bosch GmbH and 

Robert Bosch LLC

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