Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-5_15-md-02617/USCOURTS-cand-5_15-md-02617-9/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 190
Nature of Suit: Other Contract Actions
Cause of Action: 28:1332 Diversity-Breach of Contract

---

123 Justison Street 

Wilmington, Delaware 19801 

Tel: 302-622-7000 · Fax: 302-622-7100 

www.gelaw.com 

485 Lexington Avenue 

New York, New York 10017 

Tel: 646-722-8500 · Fax: 646-722-8501

Direct Dial: (312) 610-5402 

earonowitz@gelaw.com 

30 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 2350 

Chicago, Illinois 60602 

Tel: 312-214-0000· Fax: 312-214-0001 

July 30, 2015 

BY .PDF EMAIL AND 

OVERNIGHT COURIER 

The Honorable Lucy H. Koh 

United States District Court 

 for the Northern District of California 

San Jose Courthouse 

Courtroom 8, Fourth Floor 

280 South First Street 

San Jose, California 95113 

lhkcrd@cand.uscourts.gov

 

Re: In re Anthem, Inc. Data Breach Litigation, Case No. 15-md-02617 (N.D. Cal.) 

and Ross v. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association et al., Case No. 1:15-cv-02006 

(N.D. Ill.) – Full Briefing on Ross Plaintiff’s Motion to Vacate CTO-1 

Dear Judge Koh: 

I am writing on behalf of Plaintiff Wendy Ross in the action Ross v. Blue Cross Blue 

Shield Association et al., Case No. 1:15-cv-2006 (N.D. Ill.) (“Ross”), to provide the Court with 

electronic and physical courtesy copies of the fully submitted briefing on Ms. Ross’ Motion to 

Vacate Conditional Transfer Order (MDL Dkt. No. 306), presently pending before the United 

States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation and to note Ms. Ross’ counsel’s intent to appear 

at the July 31, 2015 Preliminary Case Management Conference. 

For the reasons set forth in the attached brief in support (MDL Dkt. No. 306-1), responses 

in opposition (MDL Dkt. Nos. 324 and 325), and reply in support (MDL Dkt. No. 327), Ms. 

Ross requested that the Panel vacate its conditional transfer order as it pertains to her case while 

RECEIVED 

July 30, 2015 

Clerk's Office - San Jose

Case 5:15-md-02617-LHK Document 148 Filed 07/31/15 Page 1 of 3
The Honorable Lucy H. Koh 

July 30, 2015 

Page 2 

Anthem, Independence Blue Cross n/k/a Independence Health Group, and the Blue Cross Blue 

Shield Association (“BCBSA”) requested that the Panel deny Ms. Ross’ motion and transfer the 

Ross action to this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407. 

As noted in our prior June 17, 2015 correspondence to this Court, Ms. Ross: (1) alleges 

claims against different defendants (non-Anthem BCBSA licensees and the BCBSA itself) for 

different conduct (failure to provide promised data security independently of Anthem’s data 

security shortcomings) in the Ross complaint; (2) seeks to vacate conditional transfer of her case 

to this Court for that reason; and (3) intends, even if the Panel grants her motion to vacate and 

declines to transfer the Ross action to this Court, to coordinate any overlapping discovery she 

addresses to Anthem while litigating in the Northern District of Illinois with discovery in this 

MDL. 

In the event that the Panel denies Ms. Ross’ motion to vacate, we continue to respectfully 

suggest that prosecution of the allegations in the Ross action be kept separate from prosecution 

of the very different conduct at issue in the cases already pending before this Court where 

Anthem is named as a defendant. 

Now that Ms. Ross’ motion to vacate the conditional transfer order as it pertains to her 

case is fully briefed to the Panel, it is ripe for decision. Pursuant to JPML Rule 7.1(h), “CTOs 

are effective when filed with the clerk of the transferee court.” At this point in time, no CTO 

listing the Ross action has been filed with the clerk of the Northern District of California, and 

thus, jurisdiction over the Ross case remains with the Panel and the Northern District of Illinois. 

See JPML Rule 2.1(d) (“The pendency of a motion, order to show cause, conditional transfer 

order or conditional remand order before the Panel pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407 does not affect 

or suspend orders and pretrial proceedings in any pending federal district court action and does 

not limit the pretrial jurisdiction of that court. An order to transfer or remand pursuant to 28 

U.S.C. § 1407 shall be effective only upon its filing with the clerk of the transferee district 

court.”). Indeed, Ms. Ross is not presently a formal party in proceedings before this Court at this 

point in time. However, the Ross action has been listed as related in the Table of Cases 

appended to the Preliminary Joint Case Management Statement (Dkt. No. 113) requested by the 

Court in its Order re Preliminary Case Management Conference (Dkt. No. 16), and counsel for 

Ms. Ross has been coordinating with temporarily designated liaison counsel for plaintiffs Eve H. 

Cervantes and Andrew N. Friedman. 

Because the procedural posture of and allegations within the Ross action are different 

from all the other actions comprising this MDL, counsel for Ms. Ross (David S. Senoff and I) 

intend to appear in person at the preliminary case management conference set for Friday, July 

31, 2015 at 1:00pm in San Jose, so that we may address any questions the Court may have about 

the unique Ross action. 

Case 5:15-md-02617-LHK Document 148 Filed 07/31/15 Page 2 of 3
The Honorable Lucy H. Koh 

July 30, 2015 

Page 3 

 Should your honor have any questions regarding this letter or any other aspect of the Ross

litigation, we stand ready to respond. 

Sincerely, 

Edmund S. Aronowitz 

CC (by email): 

Counsel for Ms. Ross

 Adam J. Levitt 

 Jay Edelson 

 Ari J. Scharg 

David S. Senoff 

Temporarily Designated Attorneys for Plaintiffs

 Eve Cervantes 

 Andrew N. Friedman 

Attorneys for Defendants Anthem, Inc. and Related Parties 

 Craig A. Hoover 

 E. Desmond Hogan 

 Peter R. Bisio 

 Allison M. Holt 

 Michael Maddigan 

 Maren J. Clouse 

Attorneys for Defendant The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

 Brian P. Kavanaugh 

 Katherine Warner 

Attorney for Defendant Independence Blue Cross n/k/a Independence Health Group, Inc.

 Mathieu Shapiro 

 

Enclosures /Attachments 

Case 5:15-md-02617-LHK Document 148 Filed 07/31/15 Page 3 of 3