In re Worldcom, Inc. Sec. Litig.
In re Worldcom, Inc. Sec. Litig.
2004 WL 768573 (S.D.N.Y. 2004)
April 12, 2004

Cote, Denise L.,  United States District Judge

Cost Recovery
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Summary
The Underwriter Defendants were ordered to complete their production of electronic discovery by April 2, but were unable to meet the deadline for four of their members. As a result, the Court ordered that the Underwriter Defendants must complete their production by April 19 or April 30, and granted the Lead Plaintiff's request for additional deposition time and additional electronic discovery searches.
In re WORLDCOM, INC. SECURITIES LITIGATION
No. 02 Civ. 3288(DLC)
United States District Court, S.D. New York
April 12, 2004
Cote, Denise L., United States District Judge

ORDER

*1 This Document Relates to: ALL ACTIONS
On April 8, 2004, a conference in the Securities Litigation addressed, inter alia, discovery disputes among the parties. This Order concerns one of those issues: electronic discovery.
As a result of a series of conferences with the Court, the Underwriter Defendants (excluding Salomon Smith Barney (“SSB”)) in the Securities Litigation had been ordered to substantially complete their production of electronic discovery to the Lead Plaintiff in the Securities Litigation by April 2, 2004. SSB and the Lead Plaintiff had reached agreement regarding SSB's production. The April 2 date accommodated to a great extent the Underwriter Defendants' requests in this regard. The Underwriter Defendants were not able to meet that schedule for four of their members, including most critically J.P. Morgan. At the April 8 conference, the Underwriter Defendants requested that they be given until April 19 for three of the four institutions (Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale, Blaylock Capital Partners, and Tokyo-Mitsubishi International), and until April 30 for J.P. Morgan.
The Lead Plaintiff has asked that in the event that any deposition has to be retaken to address electronic discovery not produced by April 2, that that additional deposition time not be counted against the plaintiffs' sixty deposition days for discovery in the Securities Litigation. It has also requested that the Underwriter Defendants conduct additional electronic discovery searches for nine more custodians from three institutions. It is hereby
ORDERED that the Underwriter Defendants must complete their production of electronic discovery for the four remaining institutions by April 19, or in the case of J.P. Morgan by April 30. Should these defendants fail to meet this schedule, the plaintiffs may request that they be relieved of their obligation to share expenses in the production of electronic discovery by these institutions.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the plaintiffs' request that additional deposition time, occasioned by production of electronic discovery materials after April 2, not be deducted from their sixty-day limit is granted.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the plaintiffs' request for electronic discovery from nine more custodians is granted.
SO ORDERED.