Case Developments
Last Updated: October 5, 2007
 
August 14, 2007 The Court issued an Order granting Lead Counsel's motion to approve the fee award proposed by the Attorneys' Fee Compensation Committee. See Order for details.
May 29, 2007 The Court issued an Order granting in part and denying in part defendant's motion to dismiss. See Order for details.
January 25, 2007 The Court issued an Order outlining deadlines regarding the defendant's motion for partial dismissal, filed on April 11, 2005. (R. Doc. 54). See Order for details.
August 31, 2006 The Court approved the settlement. See Order for details.
July 16, 2006 The Court held a Fairness Hearing to evaluate the proposed settlement. See Transcript for details.
December 1, 2005 The Court issued an Order that dismissed the plaintiffs’ antitrust claims and the plaintiffs’ monopolization claims under Section 2 of the Sherman Act. See Antitrust Order for details.
September 14, 2005 The Court did not hold this status conference because of Hurricane Katrina.
June 24, 2005

 

 The Court modified Pretrial Order No. 2 such that the Plaintiffs shall file their class certification motion 150 days from the date of the filing of Defendant’s answer to the consolidated complaint. This order establishes a schedule for the conduct of discovery related to the issue of class certification. See Pretrial Order No. 5 for details.
June 2, 2005

 

 The Court held the third status conference, which dealt with class certification discovery issues and website concerns. The Court also heard oral argument on the defendant’s Rule 12 motion. See Pretrial Order No. 4 for details.

The Court scheduled the next status conference on Wednesday, September 14, 2005, at 10:30 a.m.
April 13, 2005

 

 The Court determined that all causes of action in the underlying lawsuits that are not included in the Master Administrative Complaint will be dismissed with prejudice unless counsel for the plaintiffs in the underlying lawsuits moves to separate those causes of action from the Master Administrative Complaint within 30 days.
March 10, 2005

 

 The Court held the second status conference, which dealt with the deadline for the filing of the joint status report, the unresolved issue of the proposed confidentiality order, the joint discovery plan for class certification, the service list, and the date for the next pretrial conference. The Court set deadlines for briefs on specific issues. See Pretrial Order No. 3 for details.

The Court scheduled the next status conference on Thursday, June 2, 2005, at 10:30 a.m.

The plaintiffs filed an Administrative Master Complaint.
March 4, 2005 The Court amended Pretrial Order No. 2 to address the issues of attorney fees and expenses and the procedure for handling tag-along cases. See Amended Pretrial Order No. 2 for details.
February 14, 2005 The Court entered an Order appointing the following lawyers to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC):
  • Richard J. Arsenault
  • Dawn M. Barrios
  • Philip Bohrer
  • Phyllis E. Brown
  • Joseph Bruno
  • Walter J. Leger
  • Sherrie R. Savett
    •
    February 9, 2005 The Court amended Pretrial Order No. 1 regarding docketing matters in the Master File. See Amended Pretrial Order No. 1 for details.
    February 1, 2005 Conditional Transfer Order-1 received from the MDL Panel transferring eleven (11) civil actions to the Eastern District of Louisiana.
    January 24, 2005 The Court held a status conference on January 20, 2005. As a result, the Court issued Pretrial Order No. 2 establishing deadlines for the master complaint, Rule 12 motions, voluntary disclosures, interrogatories and document requests and class certification proceedings. The Court also made the following appointments:
  • Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel:
     Dawn Barrios, of Barrios, Kingsdorf, & Casteix, L.L.P.
     
  • Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel:
    Richard Arsenault, of Neblett, Beard, & Arsenault
     
  • State Court Litigation Liaison:
    Christopher Seeger, of Seeger Weiss, L.L.P.
    •

    The Court scheduled the next status conference on Thursday, March 10, 2005, at 1:00 p.m.
    January 4, 2005 The Court issued Pretrial Order No. 1 scheduling an initial conference for January 20, 2005 at 10:00 a.m. in Judge Vance’s courtroom, Room C279, United States Courthouse, 500 Poydras Street, New Orleans, LA 70130. The Court stated that the conference would be held for the purposes specified in Fed. R. Civ. P. 16(a), 16(b), 16(c), and 26(f).

    Counsel for the plaintiffs and the defendants were ordered to submit separate written statements indicating their preliminary understandings of the facts involved in the litigation and the critical factual and legal issues. The submissions were to contain the parties’ proposals for the organization of counsel and were due January 14, 2005.

    The Court stated that it would consider appointing Plaintiffs’ lead counsel and/or a Plaintiffs’ steering committee, as well as Plaintiffs’ liaison counsel. The Court ordered applications for these positions to be filed with the clerk’s office on or before January 14, 2005.
    December 17, 2004 Order received from the MDL Panel transferring nine civil action cases to the Eastern District of Louisiana.