1

 1 TRANSCRIBED FROM DIGITAL RECORDING 

 2 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS 

 3 EASTERN DIVISION 

 4 NICHOLAS MARTIN, on behalf of ) Docket No. 12 C 215 

himself and others similarly ) 

 5 situated, ) 

 ) 

 6 Plaintiff, ) 

 ) 

 7 v. ) Chicago, Illinois 

 ) July 9, 2012 

 8 DUN & BRADSTREET, INC., and ) 9:21 o'clock a.m. 

CONVERGYS CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT ) 

 9 GROUP, INC., ) 

 ) 

10 Defendants. ) 

11 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS - STATUS 

BEFORE THE HONORABLE MORTON DENLOW 

12 

APPEARANCES: 

13 

For the Plaintiff: BURKE LAW OFFICES, LLC., by 

14 MR. ALEXANDER HOLMES BURKE 

155 North Michigan Avenue 

15 Suite 9020 

Chicago, Illinois 60601 

16 

For Defendant Dun &: ICE MILLER LLP, by 

17 Bradstreet: MR. ISAAC J. COLUNGA 

2300 Cabot Drive 

18 Suite 455 

Lisle, Illinois 60532 

19 

20 ALEXANDRA ROTH, CSR, RPR 

Official Court Reporter 

21 219 South Dearborn Street 

Room 1224 

22 Chicago, Illinois 60604 

(312) 408-5038 

23 

24 NOTE: Please notify of correct speaker identific NOTE: Please notify of correct speaker identification. 

FAILURE TO SPEAK DIRECTLY INTO THE MICROPHONE MAKES

25 PORTIONS INAUDIBLE. PORTIONS INAUDIBLE. PORTIONS INAUDIBLE. 

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 1 APPEARANCES: (Continued) 

 2 For Defendant Convergys: DLA PIPER US LLP IL, by 

MR. ALBERT EDWARD HARTMANN 

 3 203 North LaSalle Street 

20th Floor 

 4 Chicago, Illinois 60601 

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 1 (Proceedings had in open court:)

 2 THE CLERK: 12 C 215, Martin versus Dun & Bradstreet,

 3 Inc.

 4 MR. BURKE: Good morning, Judge. Alexander Burke for

 5 the plaintiff.

 6 THE COURT: Go ahead and spell your last name for the

 7 record.

 8 MR. BURKE: B-u-r-k-e.

 9 MR. HARTMANN: Good morning, your Honor. Albert

10 Hartmann, H-a-r-t-m-a-n-n, for defendant Convergys.

11 MR. BURKE: Judge, counsel for Dun & Bradstreet, which

12 is the subject of this motion, isn't here yet. I just was

13 looking on my phone. I don't have his cell phone number.

14 Perhaps we should pass -- pass it for a few minutes

15 and try to give him a call.

16 THE COURT: Okay.

17 MR. HARTMANN: I -- I may have an e-mail he sent me.

18 THE COURT: So why don't you try.

19 MR. HARTMANN: Thank you.

20 THE COURT: See what you can do.

21 (Other matter heard before this Court, after which the

22 following further proceedings were had herein:)

23 THE CLERK: 12 C 215, Martin versus Dun & Bradstreet,

24 Inc.

25 MR. BURKE: Good morning, Judge. Alexander Burke,

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 1 B-u-r-k-e, for the plaintiff.

 2 MR. HARTMANN: Good morning, your Honor. Albert

 3 Hartmann, H-a-r-t-m-a-n-n, for defendant Convergys.

 4 MR. COLUNGA: Good morning, your Honor. Isaac

 5 Colunga, on behalf of the defendant Dun & Bradstreet.

 6 Your Honor, I apologize for running late this morning.

 7 It was in my calendar for 10:00 a.m. I apologize to the Court

 8 and to counsel as well.

 9 THE COURT: Okay. So where do things stand?

10 MR. COLUNGA: Your Honor, plaintiff -- we spoke --

11 plaintiff's counsel and Dun & Bradstreet spoke a few weeks ago

12 with respect to where Dun & Bradstreet was with producing the

13 documents that plaintiff had requested. I understand that

14 plaintiff needed to file this motion to compel since there

15 were -- the Court has yet to set any discovery deadlines. I

16 think what -- what plaintiff is requesting is some deadlines so

17 that we can have some clarity and get -- have a little bit more

18 focus with respect to what the defendants need to produce.

19 I think I explained to the Court the last time we were

20 here that we have a lot of information that we're sifting

21 through. And the defendant is attempting to comply with. You

22 know, the interrogatory the plaintiff produced to us requires a

23 little bit more than just dumping a pile of documents on the

24 plaintiff.

25 We are going through the documents deliberately. We

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 1 are looking at them for not only where the cell phone numbers

 2 came from. But if you recall, Judge, this is a TCPA case

 3 involving the -- allegedly involving calls made to cell phone

 4 numbers. So we're looking at not only cell phone numbers, but

 5 we're also looking to whether there was consent to call those

 6 numbers. That's part of plaintiff's class definition, and

 7 that's part of the plaintiff's request with respect to the

 8 documents that we produced.

 9 And it's -- it's taking a lot of time, unfortunately.

10 And -- and that's -- that's where we are.

11 THE COURT: But that doesn't answer the question. I

12 mean, you know, Mr. Burke has asked for a date certain by which

13 you are going to give him an answer. So what's -- you know,

14 can you give him a date certain by which you're going to

15 respond to the discovery? 

16 I appreciate it's taking a lot of time. I mean, it

17 would be different if you told me, okay, Judge, we're engaged

18 in rolling discovery. So as I go through things, I'm passing

19 it on to Mr. Burke. I didn't hear that.

20 MR. COLUNGA: That's correct, we -- we have not.

21 Convergys has made a production of documents, but Dun &

22 Bradstreet has not produced yet either rolling or in one lump.

23 We're not -- we are amenable to that -- to that kind

24 of arrangement. I think that there are documents that we can

25 probably produce right now to Mr. Burke, not necessarily with

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 1 respect to the phone numbers or consent, but I believe Mr.

 2 Burke is requesting insurance policies. We may have copies of

 3 those documents that we can produce and a few other documents

 4 that he's requested.

 5 But so with respect to dates, that's what we're

 6 getting at. I think --

 7 THE COURT: Well, here is what we're getting at. What

 8 we're getting at is, when a party issues discovery to another

 9 party and the other party doesn't respond, a party shouldn't

10 have to go in on a motion to find out what's going on. That's

11 what we're getting at. Okay? 

12 So Mr. Burke is entitled to know what's going on, when

13 he's going to get something. I found Mr. Burke to be not

14 unreasonable if he knows that things are happening. But if he

15 gets nothing and no responses, it doesn't work.

16 MR. COLUNGA: You're right, Judge. But I think in

17 this situation, we -- we have been in touch. We have been

18 communicating. Mr. Burke -- Mr. Burke, as you said, has been

19 very reasonable. I -- I've made these explanations along the

20 way.

21 But what Mr. Burke wanted, and I understand, is -- is

22 a date, a date certain that we perhaps give him something with

23 respect to the production. And when we last spoke, I was

24 unable to do that. And that's what prompted the motion to

25 compel.

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 1 Tomorrow, I have a very focused call with the client.

 2 And I believe, I am confident, that after this phone call I can

 3 give Mr. Burke a date certain, the date that he's looking for.

 4 If we can, if the Court is open to this, I would request just a

 5 short date, perhaps a deadline, so that I -- perhaps I can talk

 6 to Mr. Burke. And we can come up with a schedule of dates

 7 that -- that we -- we can comply with.

 8 THE COURT: Well, what -- what's outstanding? What's

 9 outstanding? There is a document request?

10 MR. BURKE: All documents are outstanding. All -- all

11 interrogatory responses essentially are outstanding. We've got

12 some -- some, you know, objections and we've got some, you

13 know, placeholder objections and very little substantive

14 responses to our interrogatories.

15 We've got nothing as to, you know, consent as to the

16 plaintiff. I don't have any documents having to do with my

17 guy. Essentially -- 

18 THE COURT: That's usually an important issue --

19 MR. COLUNGA: It is.

20 THE COURT: -- you know, with respect to the

21 plaintiffs. You know, efforts should be being made to deal

22 with that specifically.

23 You know, I'm going to help focus the discussion with

24 your client tomorrow; and that is, all outstanding discovery is

25 to respond -- to be responded to on or before August 15, unless

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 1 otherwise agreed to by plaintiff's counsel. So the plaintiff's

 2 motion to compel is granted. All outstanding discovery by

 3 defendant Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., is to be complied with by,

 4 you know, August 15, unless otherwise agreed to by plaintiff's

 5 counsel.

 6 So I want to -- you know, I don't know what else to

 7 do.

 8 MR. COLUNGA: I -- I understand, Judge.

 9 THE COURT: Do we have another date in the case,

10 another status date?

11 MR. HARTMANN: I believe we have an August date.

12 THE COURT: Let me just check here. Yeah, we got a

13 status on August 7. So why don't we -- why don't we continue

14 that status date to let's say August -- August 16, the day

15 after the --

16 MR. BURKE: Judge, could I -- could I ask for perhaps

17 like the 21st?

18 THE COURT: If you are on vacation.

19 MR. BURKE: I am. I'm scheduled to be in Wisconsin.

20 THE COURT: Okay. We will let you go on vacation.

21 THE CLERK: You won't be here, Judge.

22 THE COURT: Okay. I'll be on vacation. Okay.

23 Linda, when am I back?

24 THE CLERK: The 21st or the 23rd.

25 THE COURT: The 21st or 23rd, is that okay? Will you

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 1 be back, Mr. Burke?

 2 MR. BURKE: Yes.

 3 THE COURT: Does that work for the other attorneys?

 4 MR. COLUNGA: Yes.

 5 MR. HARTMANN: Yes.

 6 MR. COLUNGA: That works for me, your Honor. I'm not

 7 allowed to take vacation.

 8 THE COURT: Good. You've been well trained. No.

 9 THE CLERK: Which date?

10 THE COURT: How about the 21st, 21st at 10:00 o'clock.

11 So we'll vacate the -- vacate the August 7 date. And, okay. 

12 MR. BURKE: Than you, Judge.

13 MR. COLUNGA: Thank you, your Honor.

14 (Which were all the proceedings had at the hearing of the

15 within cause on the day and date hereof.)

16 CERTIFICATE 

17 I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing is a true, correct

18 and complete transcript of the proceedings had at the hearing

19 of the aforementioned cause on the day and date hereof.

20 

21 /s/Alexandra Roth 8/30/2012 

__________________________________ _________________ 

22 Official Court Reporter Date 

 U.S. District Court 

23 Northern District of Illinois 

 Eastern Division 

24 

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