FILED
KENNETH E. MARTONE
Clerk of the Superior Court
June 22, 1998
By: J. JOHNSON, Deputy
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO
LESLIE SUSSER, On Behalf of Himself ) Lead Case No. 720255
and All Others Similarly Situated, )
) CLASS ACTION
Plaintiff, )
) ASSIGNED TO: Judge Herbert
vs. ) B. Hoffman
)
MYCOGEN CORPORATION, et al., ) DATE: July 16, 1998
) TIME: 3:30 p.m.
Defendants. ) DEPT: 51
___________________________________ ) DATE ACTION FILED: 05/01/98
PRETRIAL ORDER NO. 1
RE: (i) SETTING STATUS CONFERENCE; (ii) CONSOLIDATING
ACTIONS; (iii) APPROVING PLAINTIFFS' ORGANIZATION OF
COUNSEL; (iv) FILING CONSOLIDATED AMENDED COMPLAINT;
AND (v) FILING MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
In furtherance of efficient case management and the interests of justice
and after due consideration and good cause appearing therefor,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED as follows:
I. SETTING OF STATUS CONFERENCE
A status conference in this matter is hereby set for July 16, 1998 at
3:30 p.m. All parties through their counsel shall attend.
II. CONSOLIDATION OF PENDING ACTIONS AND FILING OF AMENDED COMPLAINT
1. Pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure Section 1048, Local
Rule 5.4, and the general equitable powers of this Court, the following
actions shall be consolidated in Department 51 for all pretrial purposes:
LESLIE SUSSER v. MYCOGEN CORP., et al., Case No. 720255 (filed
May 1, 1998; Dept. 51) ("SUSSER");
HARBOR FINANCE PARTNERS v. MYCOGEN CORP., et al., Case No. 720256 (filed
May 1, 1998; Dept. 51) ("HARBOR FINANCE");
ELLIS INVESTMENTS, LTD v. CARLTON H. EIBL, et al., Case No. 720257
(filed May 1, 1998; Dept. 39) ("ELLIS INVESTMENTS");
RICHARD A. KOLB v. MYCOGEN CORP., et al., Case No. 720388 (filed
May 5, 1998; Dept. 40) ("KOLB");
JEANETTE ANDERSON v. MYCOGEN CORP., et al., Case No. 720391 (filed
May 5, 1998; Dept. 48) ("ANDERSON");
JEAN BOETTCHER v. MYCOGEN CORP., et al., Case No. 720530 (filed
May 8, 1998; Dept. 38) ("BOETTCHER"); and
PETER VERRONE v. MYCOGEN CORP., et al., Case No. 720700 (filed
May 15, 1998; Dept. 51) ("VERRONE").
2. Any other actions now pending or hereinafter filed in or transferred
to this Court which arise out of the same facts as alleged in the
above-identified cases shall be consolidated for all pretrial purposes, if,
as and when they are drawn to the Court's attention.
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3. Plaintiffs will file within 60 days from the entry of this order a
Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint. In the Consolidated Amended
Class Action Complaint, plaintiffs may add or drop parties and claims. The
Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint shall supersede the complaints
filed in the above-described actions. Defendants need not respond to the
complaints in the SUSSER, HARBOR FINANCE, ELLIS INVESTMENTS, KOLB, ANDERSON,
BOETTCHER and VERRONE actions. Defendants will have 30 days from the filing
of the Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint to respond to that
Complaint.
III. ORGANIZATION OF PLAINTIFFS' COUNSEL
The leadership structure of plaintiffs' counsel for the conduct of this
consolidated action shall consist of the following Co-Lead Counsel:
Milberg Weiss Bershad
Hynes & Lerach LLP
600 West Broadway, Suite 1800
San Diego, CA 92101
Telephone: 619/231-1058
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One Pennsylvania Plaza
New York, NY 10119-0165
Telephone: 212/594-5300
Abbey, Gardy & Squitieri, LLP
212 East 39th Street
New York, N.Y.
Telephone: 212/889-3700
IV. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF PLAINTIFFS' COUNSEL
Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel are hereby vested with the following
responsibilities and duties on behalf of plaintiffs and plaintiffs' counsel:
1. Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel shall have authority to speak and make
agreements for plaintiffs in matters regarding pretrial
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procedure, settlement negotiations, trial and any post-trial or appellate
proceedings and shall make all work assignments in such manner as to
facilitate the orderly and efficient prosecution of this litigation and to
avoid duplicative or unproductive effort.
2. Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel shall be responsible for coordination of
all activities and appearances on behalf of plaintiffs and for the
dissemination of notices and orders of this Court. No motion, request for
discovery, or other pretrial or post-trial proceedings shall be initiated or
filed by any plaintiff except through plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel.
3. Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel also shall be available and responsible
for communications to and from this Court.
4. Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel shall direct the preparation for a trial
of this matter and delegate work responsibilities as may be required in such
a manner as to lead to the orderly and efficient prosecution of this
litigation and to avoid duplicative or unproductive efforts.
5. Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel is authorized to employ consultants and
experts.
6. Defendants' counsel may rely upon all agreements made with
plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel and such agreements shall be binding on
plaintiffs.
7. Service by defendants' counsel on plaintiffs' co-lead counsel of any
pleading, motion or other paper required to be served shall be effective as
service on all plaintiffs.
V. FILING OF PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
In light of this consolidation order and the future filing of a
Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint, plaintiffs shall
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file their Motion for Class Certification within fifteen days after
defendants file their latest answers to the Consolidated Amended Class Action
Complaint.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: JUNE 22, 1998 /s/ HERBERT B. HOFFMAN
--------------- --------------------------------
THE HONORABLE HERBERT B. HOFFMAN
SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE
SUBMITTED AND APPROVED BY:
DATED: June 15, 1998
MILBERG WEISS BERSHAD
HYNES & LERACH LLP
WILLIAM S. LERACH
STEVEN W. PEPICH
RANDALL J. BARON
/S/ Steven W. Pepich
------------------------
STEVEN W. PEPICH
600 West Broadway, Suite 1800
San Diego, CA 92101
Telephone: 619/231-1058
MILBERG WEISS BERSHAD
HYNES & LERACH LLP
STEVEN G. SCHULMAN
U. SETH OTTENSOSER
One Pennsylvania Plaza
New York, NY 10119-0165
Telephone: 212/594-5300
ABBEY, GARDY & SQUITIERI, LLP
MARK C. GARDY
JAMES S. NOTIS
212 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: 212/889-3700
WECHSLER HARWOOD HALEBIAN
& FEFFER LLP
SAMUEL ROSEN
488 Madison Avenue
8th Floor
New York, NY 10022
Telephone: 212/935-7400
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BERNSTEIN LIEBHARD & LIFSHITZ
STANLEY D. BERNSTEIN
274 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: 212/779-1414
WOLF POPPER LLP
ROBERT M. KORNREICH
PAUL O. PARADIS
845 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Telephone: 212/759-4600
BERMAN, DeVALERIO & PEASE
GLEN DeVALERIO
One Liberty Square
Boston, MA 02109
Telephone: 617/542-8300
LAW OFFICES OF JAMES V.
BASHIAN, P.C.
JAMES V. BASHIAN
500 Fifth Avenue
Suite 2700
New York, NY 10110
Telephone: 212/921-4110
KAPLAN, KILSHEIMER & FOX, LLP
ROBERT N. KAPLAN
CHRISTINE M. COMAS
685 Third Avenue, 26th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Telephone: 212-687-1980
DATED: June 15, 1998
WEISS & YOURMAN
KEVIN YOURMAN
VAHN ALEXANDER
/s/ Vahn Alexander
-----------------------------
VAHN ALEXANDER
10940 Wilshire Blvd.
24th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Telephone: 310/208-2800
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
MAYER, BROWN & PLATT
BENNETT W. LASKO
190 South La Salle Street
Chicago, IL 60603-3441
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Telephone: 312/782-0600
DATED: June 16, 1998
MAYER, BROWN & PLATT
FREDRICK S. LEVIN
/s/ Fredrick S. Levin
--------------------------------
FREDRICK S. LEVIN
350 South Grand Avenue
25th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Telephone: 213/229-9500
Attorneys for Defendants
Dow Agrosciences, Dow Chemical
Co., Carlton J. Eibl, John L.
Hagaman, Nickolas D. Hein,
Louis W. Pribila, G. William
Tolbert, J. Pedro Reinhard, Roy
M. Barbee, William C. Schmidt
and Perry J. Gehring
DATED: June 15, 1998
GRAY, CARY, WARE & FREIDENRICH
ROBERT W. BROWNLIE
/s/ Robert W. Brownlie
---------------------------------
ROBERT W. BROWNLIE
401 B Street, Suite 1700
San Diego, CA 92101-4297
Telephone: 619/699-2700
ALTHEIMER & GRAY
THEODORE J. LOW
10 South Wacker Dr.
Suite 4000
Chicago, IL 60606
Telephone: 312/715-4000
Attorneys for Defendants
Mycogen Corp., Joseph P.
Sullivan, and George
Khachatourians
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