Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-4_07-cv-05715/USCOURTS-cand-4_07-cv-05715-0/pdf.json

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

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United States District Court

For the Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

McKesson Corp., a Delaware Corp.,

 Plaintiff,

 v.

Familymeds Group, Inc., f/k/a

Drugmax, Inc., a Connecticut

corporation, 

 Defendants.

_____________________________/

Familymeds Group, Inc., f/k/a

Drugmax, Inc., a Connecticut

corporation, 

 Counterclaimant

 v.

McKesson Corp., a Delaware

corporation, 

 Counterdefendant.

_____________________________/

Familymeds, Inc., a Connecticut

corporation, 

 Cross-complainant

 v.

McKesson Corp., a Delaware

corporation, 

 Cross-defendant.

_____________________________/

No. C-07-5715 WDB

ORDER RE MARCH 12, 2008,

HEARING

Case 4:07-cv-05715-WDB Document 30 Filed 03/13/08 Page 1 of 3
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The Court wants the clients in this case to understand what is driving the

orders the Court entered orally at the initial case management conference on March

12, 2008, and that are summarized below. One of the Court’s responsibilities to

the litigants is to do what it can to keep litigation transaction costs from growing

out of all proportion to the amounts at stake under the claims in the case. The

Court also has a duty, imposed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to do what

it can to promote the “just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.” 

The procedure the Court has ordered is informed by responsiveness to these

merging duties and by the Court’s sense that what is at the center of this case is a

matter of accounting that parties who are proceeding in good faith should be able

to digest in a straightforward exchange of information. 

For several years, the parties and their predecessors have been involved in a

high volume business relationship in which some $170,000,000 has changed

hands. It beggars the Court’s imagination that, against that background of deep

experience and considerable business sophistication, the parties cannot figure out

what amounts remain owing. We don’t need a lawsuit; we need ethical business

people to determine responsibly what is owed and to get that amount promptly

paid. 

So, between now and the end of April, the parties must sit down in the same

room with one another, accompanied by appropriately knowledgeable persons, and

try (really) to resolve these accounting matters. If the parties fail, after trying in

good faith, to reach an agreement, the Court will move this case toward an

adjudicated disposition as fast as the mandates of due process permit. 

Before Wednesday, April 30, 2008, the parties must exchange information

about the disputed accounts and must meet to discuss settlement of the parties’

claims. The parties must produce all representatives necessary to facilitate this

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exchange of information including, without limitation, those familiar with the

necessary computer systems, billing processes, and rules applicable to pricing.

The Court hereby enters a PROTECTIVE ORDER pursuant to which all

information exchanged among the parties pursuant to this Order must be treated as

CONFIDENTIAL unless and until otherwise ordered by the Court.

The Court prohibits the parties from filing additional motions or conducting

formal discovery until after April 30, 2008. 

By Monday April 28, 2008, at noon, the parties must file a joint case

management conference statement describing the status of the parties’ efforts.

On Wednesday, April 30, 2008, at 3:00 p.m., the Court will conduct a

follow up case management conference. Any party may appear by telephone and

must call the Court’s staff by April 28, 2008, at (510)-637-3324 to arrange to

appear by telephone.

The Court CONTINUES the hearing on McKesson’s Motion to Dismiss to

Wednesday, April 30, 2008, at 3:00 p.m. The hearing will go forward following

the status conference unless McKesson has withdrawn its Motion prior to that time.

The Court ORDERS counsel to deliver a copy of this Order promptly to

their clients.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: March 13, 2008

 

WAYNE D. BRAZIL

United States Magistrate Judge

Copies to: parties, wdb, stats

Case 4:07-cv-05715-WDB Document 30 Filed 03/13/08 Page 3 of 3