UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA 

Case No.: 1:20-cv-23287-DPG 

LUIS MANUEL RODRIGUEZ, et al., 

Plaintiffs, 

v. 

IMPERIAL BRANDS PLC, et al., 

Defendants. 

MOVING DEFENDANTS’ UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR AN ORDER SETTING 

COORDINATED MOTION TO DISMISS PROCEDURE AND BRIEFING SCHEDULE 

Defendants Imperial Brands plc (“Imperial”), WPP plc, Young & Rubicam LLC, BCW 

LLC (the “WPP Defendants”), and Corporación Habanos, S.A. (“Habanos”) (collectively, the 

“Moving Defendants”), respectfully request that the Court enter an order providing for the 

following deadlines and procedures related to the Moving Defendants’ responses to the Amended 

Complaint [D.E. 82] filed by Plaintiffs Luis Manuel Rodriguez, Maria Teresa Rodriguez, Alfredo 

Ramon Forns, Ramon Alberto Rodriguez, Raul Lorenzo Rodriguez, Christina Conroy, and 

Francisco Ramon Rodriguez (collectively, “Plaintiffs”). This motion is made subject to and 

without waiver of any of the Moving Defendants’ defenses, including defenses based on lack of 

personal jurisdiction. 

1. On February 26, 2021, Imperial and the WPP Defendants moved jointly [D.E. 72] 

and individually [D.E. 71, 73] to dismiss the Complaint [D.E. 1] filed by Plaintiffs on August 6, 

2020. 

2. Subject to all the Moving Defendants’ defenses, including defenses as to personal 

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jurisdiction, the parties have agreed that the Amended Complaint filed on March 22, 2021 will be 

treated as though it had been filed no later than March 19, 2021, which, pursuant to Federal Rule 

of Civil Procedure 15(a)(1)(B), was the deadline for filing an amended complaint as of right in 

response to the prior motions to dismiss. The Amended Complaint will therefore be treated as the 

operative complaint. 

3. The Moving Defendants intend to move to dismiss the Amended Complaint. The 

Moving Defendants have conferred with Plaintiffs, who consent to the procedure proposed below. 

The Moving Defendants’ proposal is comparable to the procedure this Court approved previously 

in this action [D.E. 68], except that the proposal now encompasses an additional defendant, 

Habanos. 

4. For the following reasons, the Moving Defendants respectfully submit that page 

limit expansions and joint briefing on common issues are necessary and appropriate: 

i. Local Rule 7.1(c)(2) limits motions and their incorporated memoranda of law 

to twenty (20) pages absent approval from the Court. 

ii. This Court’s Notice of Court Practice [D.E. 9] instructed the parties to file 

joint motions unless there are clear conflicts of position. 

iii. The Amended Complaint raises novel issues. The first action under Title III 

of the Helms-Burton Act was filed in May 2019, and there is limited decisional law 

construing Title III. 

iv. The Moving Defendants have conferred and have agreed to move jointly on 

all grounds for dismissal that do not require individualized argument. The joint grounds 

for dismissal include lack of subject matter jurisdiction (Plaintiffs lack Article III 

standing), and that the Amended Complaint does not plausibly plead a Title III claim. 

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v. The Moving Defendants also intend to move for dismissal on the grounds 

that they cannot be subjected to personal jurisdiction in this forum and that Title III cannot 

constitutionally be applied to them based on their respective alleged conduct, as well as 

on other grounds, but because those issues are inherently individualized, Imperial 

(individually), the WPP Defendants (together), and Habanos (individually), propose to 

file separate briefs on those issues. The Moving Defendants do not require an extension 

of the ordinary page limit for their individual briefs. 

vi. In order to comply with the Court’s joint-briefing requirement, and in light 

of the substantial jurisdictional, constitutional, and pleading issues raised by the Amended 

Complaint, the Moving Defendants request an additional number of pages beyond the 

applicable page limit, to fully and adequately address the joint arguments outlined above. 

vii. Based on the foregoing, the Moving Defendants respectfully request 

permission to exceed the page limit by five (5) pages for their joint motion, and thereby 

file a joint motion and incorporated memorandum of law for a total of no more than 

twenty-five (25) pages. The Moving Defendants further request that they be permitted to 

file three separate motions and memoranda of law on their individualized arguments, as 

outlined above (one by Imperial, one by the WPP Defendants (together), and one by 

Habanos), each of which will total no more than twenty (20) pages. 

5. In an effort to move forward expeditiously now that an Amended Complaint has 

been filed, the Moving Defendants have conferred and respectfully request that the Court order the 

following deadlines and adopt the following procedures: 

i. The Moving Defendants shall move to dismiss the Amended Complaint 

on or before April 28, 2021. 

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ii. Plaintiffs shall respond to the Moving Defendants’ joint motion to dismiss 

and their separate motions to dismiss on individualized arguments by May 28, 2021. 

Plaintiffs’ response to the joint motion shall not exceed twenty-five (25) pages, and 

Plaintiffs’ responses to the three separate motions shall not exceed twenty (20) pages each. 

iii. The Moving Defendants shall be permitted to file reply briefing by June 

18, 2021, as follows: a reply in support of their joint motion not to exceed fifteen (15) 

pages, and separate replies in support of their motions to dismiss on individualized 

arguments not to exceed ten (10) pages each. 

6. For these reasons, Moving Defendants respectfully request that the Court enter an 

order: (1) granting this Motion; and (2) entering the proposed order, attached as Exhibit A, 

adopting the briefing schedule and other procedures set forth in this Motion. 

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LOCAL RULE 7.1(A)(3) CERTIFICATE OF GOOD FAITH CONFERENCE 

Pursuant to Local Rule 7.1(a)(3), undersigned counsel for the Moving Defendants certify 

that they conferred on behalf of the Moving Defendants with counsel for Plaintiffs on March 26, 

2021, in a good faith effort to resolve the issues raised in this Motion. Plaintiffs agree to the briefing 

schedule and page limits sought herein. 

Dated: March 30, 2021 Respectfully submitted, 

/s/ Mark F. Raymond 

NELSON MULLINS BROAD AND CASSEL 

Mark F. Raymond 

Mark.Raymond@nelsonmullins.com 

Jonathan Etra 

jonathan.etra@nelsonmullins.com 

2 South Biscayne Blvd. 21st Floor 

Miami, FL 33131 

Telephone: (305) 373-9400 

ALLEN & OVERY LLP 

Andrew Rhys Davies (admitted pro hac vice) 

andrewrhys.davies@allenovery.com 

Justin L. Ormand (admitted pro hac vice) 

justin.ormand@allenovery.com 

1221 Avenue of the Americas 

New York, NY 10020 

Telephone: (212) 610-6300 

Attorneys for Defendant Imperial Brands plc 

/s/ Naim S. Surgeon 

AKERMAN LLP 

Naim S. Surgeon 

Florida Bar No. 101682 

naim.surgeon@akerman.com 

Pedro Freyre 

Florida Bar No. 192140 

pedro.freyre@akerman.com 

3 Brickell City Centre 

98 Southeast 7th St., Suite 1100 

Miami, Florida 33131 

Telephone: (305) 982-5507 

WILMER CUTLER PICKERING HALE 

AND DORR LLP 

Christopher Davies (admitted pro hac vice) 

christopher.davies@wilmerhale.com 

Jessica Lutkenhaus (admitted pro hac vice) 

jessica.lutkenhaus@wilmerhale.com 

Ashley McLaughlin Leen (admitted pro hac 

vice) 

ashley.leen@wilmerhale.com 

1875 Pennsylvania Ave NW 

Washington, DC 20006 

Telephone: (202) 663-6000 

Attorneys for Defendants WPP plc, Young & 

Rubicam LLC, and BCW LLC, a/k/a Burson 

Cohn & Wolfe LLC 

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/s/ Charles Murray Harris, Jr. 

TRENAM KEMKER SCHARF BARKIN 

FRYE O’NEILL & MULLIS 

Charles Murray Harris, Jr. 

charris@trenam.com 

Stephanie Crane Lieb 

slieb@trenam.com 

101 E Kennedy Boulevard 

Tampa, FL 33601-1102 

Telephone: (727) 820-3950 

RABINOWITZ, BOUDIN, STANDARD, 

KRINSKY & LIEBERMAN, P.C. 

Michael R. Krinsky (pro hac vice pending) 

mkrinsky@rbskl.com 

Lindsey Frank (pro hac vice pending) 

lfrank@rbskl.com 

14 Wall Street, Suite 3002 

New York, NY 10005 

Telephone: (212) 254-1111 

Attorneys for Defendant Corporación Habanos, 

S.A.

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