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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

NICHOLAS MARTIN on behalf of himself and 

others similarly situated,

 Plaintiff, 

 v.

DUN & BRADSTREET, INC., and

CONVERGYS CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT 

GROUP, INC.

 Defendants. 

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1:12-cv-215

Magistrate Judge Denlow (by consent)

JURY DEMANDED

PARTIES’ REPORT OF PLANNING MEETING

1. Description of Claims and Relief Sought.

a. The parties shall set forth a brief summary of the claims and defenses raised by the 

pleadings.

Plaintiff brought this class action pursuant to the Telephone Consumer 

Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. §227 (the "TCPA"). The case alleges that defendant Convergys 

Customer Management Group, Inc. called plaintiff’s cellular telephone using an 

automatic telephone dialing system, on behalf of defendant Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. 

Defendants deny that they are liable to Plaintiff or the putative class members 

under the TCPA, and further deny that class certification is proper or allowable in this 

case. 

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b. The parties shall set forth a brief statement of the relief sought, including an 

itemization of damages.

Plaintiff alleges that he and the class have been damaged because their privacy 

rights have been violated. Plaintiff seeks between $500 and $1,500 per violation for 

himself and the class, along with declaratory and injunctive relief.

2. Discovery Schedule.

a. Initial Disclosures. The parties will exchange the information required by Fed. R. Civ. 

P. 26(a)(1) by March 16, 2012 if they have not already done so.

Plaintiffs propose that all discovery proceed at once.

Defendants propose that discovery be bifurcated to first address class certification, and 

then to address the merits after issues of class certification are resolved.

b. Discovery Cutoff.

Plaintiff proposes that all non-expert fact discovery by completed by October 31, 2012. 

Defendants propose that all non-expert fact discovery concerning class certification shall

be completed by October 31, 2012. This discovery will encompass facts relating to the class 

certification issues on which Plaintiff has the burden of proof under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules 

of Civil Procedure (unless any such issues are not disputed), and will also encompass any facts 

relating to any defenses (affirmative or otherwise) which Defendants intend to assert in an 

effort to oppose or defeat class certification.

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c. Experts. 

Plaintiff proposes the below schedule as to experts on all issues. 

Defendants propose that reports from retained experts under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)

concerning class certification, if any, be due:

From the party with the burden of proof by August 30, 2012.

From a responding party by defendant(s) by September 30, 2012.

d. All retained expert depositions concerning class certification to be completed by 

October 31, 2012.

e. Summary Judgment / trial. Under plaintiff’s plan, the case will likely be ready for 

summary judgment or trial by November 30, 2012. 

Defendants propose that after this Court issues a decision on Plaintiff's motion for class 

certification (and the exhaustion of any appeals), the parties shall submit a proposed

schedule for the completion of any remaining fact and expert discovery.

3. Consideration of Issues Concerning Electronically Stored Information (“ESI”).

Experience teaches that unless conducted with careful planning and a spirit of

cooperation, discovery of ESI can result in an unnecessarily high level of conflict, expense

and delay in resolving cases on the merits. That is why the Court has endorsed The Sedona

Conference® Cooperation Proclamation dated July 2008.

To further advance the goal of having parties conduct discovery of ESI in a

cooperative and cost-effective manner, this Court has adopted the Standing Order Relating

to the Discovery of Electronically Stored Information. During their meet and confer, the

parties shall address the ESI issues discussed in the Standing Order, including but not limited

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to those set forth in Section 2.01(a)(1)-(5). In the joint status report, the parties shall set

forth:

a. Whether they anticipate discovery of ESI in the case.

Because of the nature of autodialing equipment and database practices, Plaintiff 

and Defendants anticipate that ESI will be at issue in this case.

Defendants anticipate that the bulk of the ESI in their custody will relate to 

members of the proposed class, as opposed to the Plaintiff, individually.

b. What agreements they have reached regarding discovery of ESI.

Due to the nature of the ESI maintained by Defendants in their databases and 

other electronic repositories, as well as the nature of the information that 

Plaintiff believes he will need to support his case, the parties have agreed, in 

principal, to non-native production of ESI. For example, if Defendants can 

produce information from a database in the form of an Excel spreadsheet which 

accurately preserves and presents the pertinent information, production in a 

database or spreadsheet compatible formatwill be allowable.

For ESI consisting of email and other business documents, Defendants will 

produce such ESI to Plaintiff in an agreed-upon form which preserves (to the 

extent possible, and taking into account any issues of privilege) the electronic 

readability of the ESI in its native format. Plaintiff shall do the same for any ESI 

that he produces.

For any ESI issues which may arise, the parties anticipate that they can address 

those issues in the course of discovery.

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c. What areas of disagreement they have with regard to discovery of ESI.

At the present time, none.

4. Settlement.

a. Counsel are to discuss settlement and report on the status of settlement discussions. 

b. Counsel are to discuss what discovery, if any, is necessary to engage in meaningful 

settlement discussions, and to give priority to that discovery.

Plaintiff requests that defendants provide the number of class members in order 

for him to make a meaningful settlement demand.

c. The plaintiff(s) will submit an itemization of damages and written settlement proposal 

to defendant(s) by (date), with a copy to Judge Denlow’s chambers, if not previously 

submitted.

d. The defendant(s) will make a written response or counter-proposal to plaintiff(s) by 

(date) , with a copy to Judge Denlow’s chambers, if not previously submitted.

6. Pending Motions.

The parties shall indicate the status of any pending motions.

Plaintiff’s motion for class certification, which was filed along with the complaint in 

order to prevent the class members’ claims from being mooted, is pending. Upon completion of 

discovery (as discussed above), Plaintiff expects to renew/supplement that motion, at which 

time the parties and the Court will set an appropriate briefing schedule.

7. Trial.

Plaintiff anticipates that this case, or portions of it, may be resolved through summary 

judgment. The parties anticipate that any trial would take, at most, four days.

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Respectfully submitted,

/s/Alexander H. Burke

Counsel for Plaintiff

BURKE LAW OFFICES, LLC

155 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 9020

Chicago, IL 60601

(312) 729-5288

(312) 729-5289 (fax)

ABurke@BurkeLawLLC.com

www.BurkeLawLLC.com

/s/Albert E. Hartmann (with consent)

Counsel for Defendant 

Convergys Customer Management Group, Inc.

DLA Piper LLP (US)

203 North LaSalle Street, Suite 1900

Chicago, Illinois 60601-1293

312.368.2142 T

312.630.7317 F

albert.hartmann@dlapiper.com

www.dlapiper.com

/s/Bart T. Murphy (with consent)

Counsel for Defendant 

Dun & Bradstreet, Inc.

Ice Miller LLP

2300 Cabot Dr., Ste. 455

Lisle, IL 60532 

630-955-6392

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