Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_06-md-01791/USCOURTS-cand-3_06-md-01791-25/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 28:1331 Fed. Question

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 Stipulation to Stay Cases Against Wireless Carriers 

MDL No. 06-1791-VRW 

PILLSBURY WINTHROP SHAW PITTMAN LLP 

BRUCE A. ERICSON #76342 

DAVID L. ANDERSON #149604 

JACOB R. SORENSEN #209134 

MARC H. AXELBAUM #209855 

DANIEL J. RICHERT #232208 

50 Fremont Street 

Post Office Box 7880 

San Francisco, CA 94120-7880 

Telephone: (415) 983-1000 

Facsimile: (415) 983-1200 

SIDLEY AUSTIN LLP 

DAVID W. CARPENTER (admitted pro hac vice)

BRADFORD A. BERENSON (admitted pro hac vice) 

EDWARD R. MCNICHOLAS (admitted pro hac vice) 

DAVID LEE LAWSON (admitted pro hac vice) 

ERIC A. SHUMSKY #206124 

1501 K Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20005 

Telephone: (202) 736-8010 

Facsimile: (202) 736-8711 

Attorneys for the Cingular Defendants 

 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 

In re: 

NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY 

TELECOMMUNICATIONS RECORDS 

LITIGATION 

MDL Dkt. No. 06-1791-VRW 

STIPULATION TO STAY CASES 

AGAINST CINGULAR 

This Document Relates To: 

06-5452-VRW 

06-6222-VRW 

06-6224-VRW 

06-6253-VRW 

06-6254-VRW 

06-6570-VRW 

07-0464-VRW

[Civil L.R. 6-2, 7-1(5), 7-12] 

Courtroom: 6, 17th Floor 

Judge: Hon. Vaughn R. Walker 

Case M:06-cv-01791-VRW Document 143 Filed 02/01/2007 Page 1 of 6
 Case 3:06-md-01791-VRW Document 177 Filed 02/22/07 Page 1 of 6
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- 2 - Stipulation to Stay Cases Against Wireless Carriers 

MDL No. 06-1791-VRW

RECITALS 

A. On January 31, 2006, Hepting, et al. v. AT&T Corp., et al., Case No. 06-672-

VRW, was filed in this District. The Hepting complaint alleges, inter alia, that certain 

AT&T entities have cooperated with the National Security Agency (“NSA”) in connection 

with a terrorist surveillance program. 

B. On May 11, 2006, USA Today published an article entitled “NSA has 

massive database of Americans’ phone calls,” which alleges that AT&T, Verizon and 

BellSouth have provided customer call records to the NSA. Following the publication of 

this article, dozens of lawsuits were filed in various fora across the United States against a 

number of telecommunications entities. Among the named parties in these lawsuits were 

the following entities: Cingular Wireless LLC (now known as AT&T Mobility LLC), New 

Cingular Wireless Services, Inc., and Cingular Wireless Corporation (now known as AT&T 

Mobility Corporation) (collectively, the “Cingular Entities”). 

C. On July 20, 2006, this Court entered an order in Hepting denying motions to 

dismiss filed by the United States of America and AT&T Corp. (the “Hepting Ruling”). 

This Court certified the Hepting Ruling for immediate appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1292(b). Both the United States and AT&T Corp. petitioned the Ninth Circuit for 

permission to appeal the Hepting Ruling, and the Hepting plaintiffs filed a cross-petition. 

D. On August 9, 2006, the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation (“JPML”) 

entered its Transfer Order creating this MDL and transferring cases to this Court for 

coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407. Since the 

August 9, 2006 Initial Transfer Order, the JPML has entered additional transfer orders, 

transferring additional cases to this Court for coordinated or consolidated pretrial 

proceedings. 

E. The cases transferred into the MDL that have been filed against the Cingular 

Entities are: 

06-5452-VRW, Harrington v. AT&T, Inc.

06-6222-VRW, Cross v. AT&T Communications, Inc. 

Case M:06-cv-01791-VRW Document 143 Filed 02/01/2007 Page 2 of 6
 Case 3:06-md-01791-VRW Document 177 Filed 02/22/07 Page 2 of 6
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- 3 - Stipulation to Stay Cases Against Wireless Carriers 

MDL No. 06-1791-VRW

06-6224-VRW, Cross v. AT&T Communications of California Inc. 

06-6253-VRW, Derosier v. Cingular Wireless LLC 

06-6254-VRW, Crockett v. Verizon Wireless 

06-6570-VRW, Chulsky v. Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless 

07-0464-VRW, Lebow et al v. BellSouth Corporation 

F. On November 7, 2006, the Ninth Circuit granted the petitions of the United 

States and AT&T Corp. to appeal the Hepting Ruling. 

G. On November 17, 2006, this Court held an MDL Case Management 

Conference where, inter alia, it was ordered that Plaintiffs would file master consolidated 

complaints against various defendant groups including against the Cingular Entities. 

H. On January 16, 2007, the Plaintiffs filed consolidated complaints against the 

Cingular Entities. 

I. In furtherance of judicial economy, the plaintiffs’ counsel for the subscribers 

to the Cingular Entities, and the Cingular Entities wish to stay all proceedings against the 

Cingular Entities pending the final adjudication of all appeals of the Hepting Ruling, 

including disposition of any petition for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, 

without any prejudice to the rights of any party. 

STIPULATION 

The plaintiffs’ counsel for the subscribers to the Cingular Entities and the Cingular 

Entities hereby stipulate as follows: 

1. All proceedings against the Cingular Entities shall be stayed pending the 

final appellate ruling on the July 20, 2006, Hepting Ruling, including the disposition of any 

petition for certiorari (or the expiration of time to seek such a petition) from the United 

States Supreme Court for review of any decision the Ninth Circuit issues in its interlocutory 

review of the Hepting ruling. This stay shall encompass any proceedings against the 

Cingular Entities transferred by the JPML to this Court and consolidated with this MDL 

subsequent to the entry of this Stipulation. 

Case M:06-cv-01791-VRW Document 143 Filed 02/01/2007 Page 3 of 6
 Case 3:06-md-01791-VRW Document 177 Filed 02/22/07 Page 3 of 6
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- 4 - Stipulation to Stay Cases Against Wireless Carriers 

MDL No. 06-1791-VRW

2. This stay shall in no way affect any MDL proceedings against entities other 

than the Cingular Entities. 

3. This stay shall not affect the substantive and other procedural rights of the 

Cingular Entities or of the subscribers who have filed complaints against them. 

4. The Cingular Entities need not file any pleading responding to the 

consolidated complaints against each of them until sixty (60) days after the expiration of 

this stay. 

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 Case 3:06-md-01791-VRW Document 177 Filed 02/22/07 Page 4 of 6
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- 5 - Stipulation to Stay Cases Against Wireless Carriers 

MDL No. 06-1791-VRW

DECLARATION PURSUANT TO GENERAL ORDER 45, § X.B 

I, BRUCE A. ERICSON, hereby declare pursuant to General Order 45, § X.B, that I 

have obtained the concurrence in the filing of this document from each of the other 

signatories listed below. 

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing declaration is true and correct. 

Executed on February 1, 2007, at San Francisco, California. 

/s/ Bruce A. Ericson 

Dated: February 1, 2007. 

PILLSBURY WINTHROP SHAW PITTMAN LLP 

BRUCE A. ERICSON 

DAVID L. ANDERSON 

JACOB R. SORENSEN 

MARC H. AXELBAUM 

DANIEL J. RICHERT 

50 Fremont Street 

Post Office Box 7880 

San Francisco, CA 94120-7880 

SIDLEY AUSTIN LLP 

DAVID W. CARPENTER 

DAVID L. LAWSON 

BRADFORD A. BERENSON 

EDWARD R. McNICHOLAS 

1501 K Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20005 

By /s/ Bruce A. Ericson 

Bruce A. Ericson 

Attorneys for the Cingular Defendants 

GEORGE & BROTHERS 

R. JAMES GEORGE, JR. 

D. DOUGLAS BROTHERS 

1100 Norwood Tower 

114 W. 7th Street 

Austin, TX 78701 

Tel: (592) 495-1400 

Fax: (592) 499-0094 

By /s/ R. James George, Jr. per G.O. 45 

R. James George Jr. 

Interim Class Counsel for the Cingular Subscriber 

Class 

Case M:06-cv-01791-VRW Document 143 Filed 02/01/2007 Page 5 of 6
 Case 3:06-md-01791-VRW Document 177 Filed 02/22/07 Page 5 of 6
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- 6 - Stipulation to Stay Cases Against Wireless Carriers 

MDL No. 06-1791-VRW

[PROPOSED] ORDER 

Pursuant to the foregoing Stipulation, and good cause appearing, the Court orders 

the following: 

1. All proceedings against Cingular Wireless LLC (now known as AT&T 

Mobility LLC), New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc., Cingular Wireless Corporation (now 

known as AT&T Mobility Corporation) (collectively, the “Cingular Defendants”) in this 

MDL, including those proceedings transferred to this Court by the JPML and consolidated 

with this MDL subsequent to entry of this Order, are hereby stayed pending the final 

appellate ruling on this Court’s July 20, 2006 ruling in Hepting, et. al v. AT&T Corp., et. 

al., including the disposition of any petition for certiorari (or the expiration of time to seek 

such a petition) from the United States Supreme Court for review of any decision the Ninth 

Circuit issues in its interlocutory review of that Hepting ruling. 

2. This stay shall in no way affect any MDL proceedings against entities other 

than the Cingular Defendants. 

3. The Cingular Defendants need not file pleadings responsive to the 

consolidated complaints against them until sixty (60) days after the expiration of this stay. 

PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED. 

Dated: February __, 2007. 

 

 Hon. Vaughn R. Walker 

 United States District Chief Judge 

Case M:06-cv-01791-VRW Document 143 Filed 02/01/2007 Page 6 of 6

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U

NITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

IT IS SO ORDERED

Judge Vaughn R Walker

Case 3:06-md-01791-VRW Document 177 Filed 02/22/07 Page 6 of 6