Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_16-cv-00094/USCOURTS-cand-3_16-cv-00094-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 410
Nature of Suit: Antitrust
Cause of Action: 15:1 Antitrust Litigation

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

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 fraud cases)

_______________________________________/

MDL No. 2672 CRB (JSC)

PRETRIAL ORDER NO. 7: ORDER 

APPOINTING PLAINTIFFS’ LEAD 

COUNSEL, PLAINTIFFS’ STEERING 

COMMITTEE, AND GOVERNMENT 

COORDINATING COUNSEL

 

On December 9, 2015, the Court announced that it intended to appoint a Plaintiffs’ 

Steering Committee (“PSC”) to conduct and coordinate the pretrial stage of this multi-district 

litigation (“MDL”) with the defendants’ representatives or committee. (Pretrial Order No. 1, Dkt. 

No. 2.) The Court subsequently invited individuals to submit applications for a steering 

committee or a lead counsel position by January 8, 2016 and allowed parties to respond by 

January 14, 2016. (Pretrial Order No. 2, Dkt. No. 336.) The Court received a total of 150

submissions: 9 individuals applied for a lead counsel position, 104 applied for a steering 

committee position, and 37 applied for a lead counsel and/or a steering committee position. The 

Court held a hearing on the matter on January 21, 2016. Having carefully considered the written 

submissions and the applicants’ oral statements, the Court issues the following Order. 

A. Lead Counsel

1. The Court appoints Elizabeth J. Cabraser of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, 

LLP as Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel and as Chair of the PSC. Ms. Cabraser has extensive experience 

with multi-district litigation and has held leadership positions in 17 different MDLs, including 

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United States District Court

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several that involved automobile defects. She also has the support of a great number of her fellow 

counsel in this MDL. (See Dkt. No. 782-3.) Moreover, the Court has first-hand knowledge of Ms. 

Cabraser’s leadership abilities, having worked with her in her role as plaintiffs’ liaison counsel 

and as a member of the PSC in In re: Bextra and Celebrex Marketing, Sales Practices, and 

Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1699 (N.D. Cal.). That experience left the Court with the 

confidence that Ms. Cabraser will effectively represent and guide the plaintiffs toward a resolution 

that is in their best interests.

2. The Court vests Ms. Cabraser, as Lead Counsel and PSC Chair, with the authority 

and duty to coordinate and oversee the PSC responsibilities set forth below; to schedule PSC 

meetings and keep minutes or transcripts of these meetings; to appear at periodic Court-noticed 

status conferences and hearings; to sign and file all pleadings relating to all actions; and to bind 

the PSC in scheduling settlement discussions and discovery, setting agendas, entering into 

stipulations, and in other necessary interactions with the settlement master, defense counsel, and 

the PSC. Ms. Cabraser shall also have the authority to retain the services of any attorney not part 

of the PSC to perform any common benefit work, provided the attorney so consents and is bound 

by the PSC’s compensation structure. She shall perform other necessary PSC administrative and 

logistic functions and carry out any other duty as the Court may order. 

3. Lead Counsel shall also do the following:

• Establish and maintain a depository for orders, pleadings, hearing transcripts, and all 

documents served upon plaintiffs’ counsel, and make such papers available to plaintiffs’ 

counsel upon reasonable request.

• Maintain in conjunction with their accountant records of receipts and disbursements 

advanced by PSC members and received by the PSC and report in writing to the PSC 

concerning disbursements and receipts.

• Designate counsel to schedule depositions, set agendas and otherwise interact with defense 

counsel, Government counsel, various plaintiffs’ counsel, and the settlement master.

B. Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee 

4. As noted above, Ms. Cabraser will chair the PSC. The Court appoints the 

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

following attorneys as members of the PSC: 

Benjamin L. Bailey

Bailey and Glasser LLP

209 Capital Street

Charleston, WV 25301

Steve W. Berman

Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP 

1918 Eighth Avenue, Suite 3300 

Seattle, WA 98101

David Boies

Boies Schiller and Flexner 

333 Main Street 

Armonk, NY 10504

Elizabeth Cabraser (chair)

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, 

LLP 

Embarcadero Center West 

275 Battery Street, 29th Floor 

San Francisco, CA 94111-3339

David Seabold Casey, Jr. 

Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & 

Penfield LLP 

110 Laurel St 

San Diego, CA 92101

James E. Cecchi 

Carella Byrne Cecchi Olstein Brody & 

Agnello, P.C. 

5 Becker Farm Road 

Roseland, NJ 07068

Roxanne Barton Conlin

Roxanne Conlin and Associates 

319 7th Street 

Suite 600 

Des Moines, IA 50309

Jayne Conroy 

Simmons Hanly Conroy, LLC 

112 Madison Avenue 

New York, NY 10016

Paul J. Geller 

Robbins Geller Rudman and Dowd LLP 

120 East Palmetto Park Road, Suite 500 

Boca Raton, FL 33432

Robin L. Greenwald 

Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C. 

700 Broadway 

New York, NY 10003

Michael D. Hausfeld 

Hausfeld LLP 

1700 K Street NW, Suite 650 

Washington, DC 20006

Michael Everett Heygood 

Heygood, Orr, Pearson 

6363 North State Highway 161, Suite 450 

Irving, TX 75038

Adam J. Levitt 

Grant & Eisenhofer P.A. 

30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 1200 

Chicago, IL 60602

W. Daniel “Dee” Miles III 

Beasley Allen Crow Methvin Portis & 

Miles 

218 Commerce Street 

P.O. Box 4160 

Montgomery, AL 36103

Frank Mario Pitre 

Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy LLP 

San Francisco Airport Office Center 

840 Malcolm Road, Suite 200 

Burlingame, CA 94010

Joseph F. Rice 

Motley Rice LLC

28 Bridgeside Boulevard

Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464

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United States District Court

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Rosemary M. Rivas 

Finkelstein Thompson LLP 

1 California Street, Suite 900 

San Francisco, CA 94111

Lynn Lincoln Sarko 

Keller Rohrback L.L.P. 

1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3200 

Seattle, WA 98101

Christopher A. Seeger 

Seeger Weiss LLP 

77 Water Street, 26th Floor 

New York, NY 10005

J. Gerard Stranch IV 

Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings, PLLC 

227 Second Avenue N, 4th Floor 

Nashville, TN 37201

Roland K. Tellis 

Baron Budd, P.C. 

15910 Ventura Boulevard 

Encino Plaza, Suite 1600 

Encino, CA 91436

Lesley Elizabeth Weaver 

Block & Leviton LLP 

520 Third Street, Suite 108 

Oakland, CA 94607

5. The PSC appointments are personal to the individual attorney appointed. While the 

Court has considered PSC members’ resources and expects they will draw upon their firms and 

co-counsel to assist them with their duties, each member is personally responsible for his or her 

duties. The Court may add or replace members upon request from the PSC, or on its own motion, 

if and as circumstances warrant.

6. It is intended and expected by this Order that, as to all matters common to the 

coordinated cases, and to the fullest extent consistent with the independent fiduciary obligations 

owed by any and all plaintiffs’ counsel to their clients and any putative class, that pretrial 

proceedings shall by conducted by and through the PSC.

7. The Court notes it has appointed 21 attorneys to the PSC (in addition to Ms. 

Cabraser); the Court believes this is an appropriate number given the amount of work this 

litigation may entail and the need for an expeditious resolution of the matter. 

8. The PSC is responsible for creating its own structure, including establishing 

subcommittees, subject to the Court’s approval. The Court recognizes that changes to the PSC’s 

organization may be necessary as the litigation progresses and new details emerge. 

9. Finally, as the Court stated at the January 21, 2016 proceeding, the Court will make 

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the final determination as to the compensation and reimbursement of Plaintiffs’ counsel. As a 

result, there is no need to choose counsel based on a competitive bidding process as proposed by 

an amicus. (See Dkt. No. 576.) All time keepers carrying out work for the plaintiffs’ common 

benefit, including PSC members, who may look to any common fund or agreement for 

reimbursement or compensation shall maintain detailed and contemporaneous time records. The 

Court will provide further details in a subsequent Order. 

C. Government Coordinating Counsel

10. On January 15, 2016, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation conditionally 

transferred from the Eastern District of Michigan to this Court United States v. Volkswagen AG, et 

al., Case No. 16-10006. (Dkt. No. 928.) In light of the United States Government interests in this 

MDL, the Court appoints United States Department of Justice Attorney Joshua H. Van Eaton as 

coordinating counsel for the interests of the United States. Mr. Van Eaton’s role will include 

scheduling meetings, appearing at Court-noticed conferences, acting on behalf of the Government 

interests in settlement discussions (including ensuring that the appropriate Government decision 

makers are participating), coordinating discovery with the PSC and Defendants, and carrying out 

any other duty the Court may order. The Government Coordinating Counsel shall confer with the 

PSC and Defendants to achieve the greatest possible efficiencies and effectiveness, including as to 

the conduct of discovery and settlement discussions.

D. Defendants’ Liaison Counsel

To act on behalf of all Defendants, and to ensure effective and efficient communications 

between Defendants and Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel, the PSC, the settlement master, and 

Government Coordinating Counsel, Defendants shall provide the Court with the name and firm of 

the attorney who shall act on behalf of Defendants as Defendants’ Liaison Counsel on or before 

January 27, 2016. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: January 21, 2016

______________________________________

CHARLES R. BREYER

United States District Judge

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