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Interim Lead Counsel Tapped in Tomato Suits

Law360, New York (March 24, 2009) -- The judge overseeing consolidated litigation over allegations of anti-competitive conduct in the market for processed tomato products has tapped Hausfeld LLP and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP to serve as co-lead interim counsel.

The court pointed to factors including Quinn Emmanuel's success rate and Hausfeld's firm status as co-lead counsel in some 17 major antitrust class actions.

Judge Morrison C. England of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California signed off on a memorandum and order on March 19 appointing Hausfeld and Quinn Emanuel as co-lead interim counsel and Damrell Nelson Schrimp Pallios Pacher & Silva as liaison counsel.

The appointments come in the context of four putative class action antitrust suits against defendants including SK Foods LP, Ingomar Packing Co. LLC, Los Gatos Tomato Products and Intramark USA Inc. that were consolidated for pretrial purposes on March 9.

Judge England decided to put off a decision on complete consolidation until more information was available.
On March 19, Judge England granted in part and denied in part a motion that was submitted in February by plaintiffs Four In One Co. and Bruce Foods Corp., and later joined by plaintiff Cliffstar Corp.

The remaining plaintiff, Diversified Foods and Seasonings Inc., opposed the Four In One/Bruce motion and lodged its own motion for appointment of counsel, which was denied.

The Four In One motion asked the court to gave four firms interim lead counsel status: Hausfeld, Quinn Emanuel, Bernstein Liebhard LLP and Pearson Simon Warshaw & Penny LLP.

But Judge England wrote that appointing more than two firms to share lead counsel status “would engender duplication of effort not in the best interest of either a focused or efficient class representation.”

Arthur Bailey of Hausfeld said Tuesday that he was happy his firm had been selected. It's hard to tell at this point whether the four cases will remain consolidated for a common trial, Bailey said.

"I would expect that they would be consolidated later, but we'll see what the judge thinks," Bailey said.

While Four In One, Bruce Foods and Cliffstar managed to come to terms, there was no overall consensus because of Diversified Foods' dissent. Diversified Foods proposed appointing two lead counsel, one from the consortium of lawyers representing Four In One, Bruce Foods and Cliffstar, and one from the two firms represented Diversified Foods in its case. Diversified Foods also pitched Mennemeier Glassman & Stroud LLP as liaison counsel.

The lack of consensus meant the court was confronted with the “unenviable task of selecting class counsel from a preeminent group of proposed firms,” according to Judge England, adding that all the firms seemed well-qualified for their proposed roles.

Quinn Emanuel has both “far-reaching experience and expertise, as well as the trial experience necessary to litigate a case of this potential magnitude,” Judge England wrote.

Quinn Emmanuel pointed to a 91.6 percentage of victory in about 1250 cases tried, and around $10 billion in judgments and settlements reached in representing plaintiffs, according to the March 19 ruling.

Michael Hausfeld, who it was proposed would lead the team for Hausfeld LLP, has won accolades for being among the nation's top class action and antitrust lawyers, Judge England noted.

“Although there is no question that the other firms proposed as co-lead counsel are also well-qualified, in the court’s estimation both Quinn Emanuel and Hausfeld LLP stand out from the rest with regard to qualifications particularly applicable to this case,” according to Judge England.

Attorneys with Quinn Emmanuel and Hausfeld LLP were not immediately available to discuss the decision.
Attorneys for defendants SK Foods, Los Gatos, Ingomar Packing and Intramark USA could not be immediately reached for comment.

SK Foods is represented by Gordon & Rees LLP. Ingomar is represented by Bingham McCutchen LLP. Los Gatos is represented by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Intramark is represented by David W. Dratman.

The suits are case numbers 09-27, 09-442, 08-3017 and 08-3074 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
 

Practice Areas: Antitrust / Competition