I The Honorable Marsha J. Pechman 2 3 4 5 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON IN RE CEDAR SHAKE & SHINGLE No. 2:19-cv-00288-MJP This Document Relates to: UNOPPOSED MOTION AND ll QgunmemEES ORDER GRANTING LETTERS ROGATORY RE: 12]! All Class Actions TELEPHONE RECORDS TO TELUS 3 COMMUNICATIONS INC.
15 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 28(b)(3) and 28 U.S.C. 1781(b)(2), 16 undersigned Plaintiffs (“Plaintiffs”) move this Court for an Order issuing the attached Letters 17 Rogatory to the appropriate authorities in British Columbia, Canada for the telephone records of 18 certain executives and competitors of Defendants in this case. Plaintiffs seek telephone records 19 of telephone calls made to and from executives and competitors of Defendants in Canada. 20 Defendants have been consulted and do not oppose this motion. 21 Courts have the inherent authority to issue Letters Rogatory and Letters of Request to 22 foreign nations, and may request that the foreign nation order a witness to provide testimony that 23 will aid in the resolution of a matter pending in the United States. See United States v. Reagan, 24 453 F.2d 165, 172 (6th Cir. 1971); United States v. Staples, 256 F.2d 290, 292 (9th Cir. 1958). In 25 addition, federal statutes provide for the issuance of Letters Rogatory by a federal court. Under 26 28 U.S.C. § 1781(b)(2), a tribunal in the United States may directly transmit a Letter Rogatory or UNOPPOSED MOTION AND SE ORDER GRANTING KELLER ROHRBACK L.L.P. FOR LETTERS ROGATORY RE: TELEPHONE RECORDS (19- 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3200 00288-MJP) - 1 TELEPHONE: (206) 623-1900 FACSIMILE: (206) 623-3384
1 request to a foreign or international tribunal. The British Columbia Evidence Act also provides 2 that a court outside of Canada may serve Letters Rogatory upon a Canadian court. British 3 Columbia Evidence Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, C. 124 § 53. 4 On applications for the issuance of Letters Rogatory, the Court will not ordinarily weigh 5 the evidence to be elicited, nor will the Court determine whether the witnesses will be able to 6 provide the anticipated testimony. B&L Drilling Electronics vy. Totco, 87 F.R.D. 543, 545 (W.D. 7 Okla. 1978). Rather, “good reason” must be shown for denying the issuance of a Letter 8 Rogatory. Zassenhaus v. Evening Star Newspaper Co., 404 F.2d 1361, 1364 (D.C. Cir. 1968). 9 Here, Plaintiffs seek to obtain telephone records to provide further evidence to prove the 10 allegations in their Second Amended Complaint filed in the above referenced case, namely that 11 ] the alleged co-conspirators furthered the conspiracy to coordinate price fixing for cedar shakes 12 and shingles over the phone. For example, Plaintiffs allege that Mr. Dziedzic, G & R’s Sales 13 Manager spoke on the phone with some competitors, either Brooke Meeker of Anbrook 14 Industries or Curtis Walker of Waldun Forest Products, who asked him to raise G & R’s shake 15 and shingle prices. Pl. Liebo’s Second Amended Complaint, § 201. 16 Plaintiffs further allege Defendants Waldun and CSSB “pressure[d] Teal to raise its prices 17 via phone conversations.” Jd. at § 218. Plaintiffs allege that, “on multiple occasions during the 18 last 10 years, Curtis Walker made calls to Pacific Cedar’s Vice President Kathy Klassen, in which 19 he told her that her company’s cedar shake and shingle prices were too low and urged her to raise 20 those prices to levels recommended by Mr. Walker.” Jd. at § 219. Plaintiffs allege that “[oJn 21 multiple occasions ... Curtis Walker made calls to Bill Maitland of Goat Lake Cedar in which he 22 asked Mr. Maitland to raise his company’s cedar shake and shingle prices to levels recommended 23 by Mr. Walker. at § 220. Plaintiffs seek phone records of these and other calls to prove their 24 case. 25 Moreover, the issuing of a Letter Rogatory will not be overly burdensome. Plaintiffs seek 26 telephone records of only 56 telephone numbers from January 1, 2011 to the date of collection.
UNOPPOSED MOTION AND QS ORDER GRANTING KELLER ROHRBACK L.L.P. FOR LETTERS ROGATORY RE: TELEPHONE RECORDS (19- 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3200 00288-MIP) - 2 TELEPHONE: (206) 623-1900 FACSIMILE: (206) 623-3364
1 These documents are regularly produced by TELUS Communications Inc., as evidenced by the 2 fact that that they have a policy for producing telephone records, i.e., one has to submit a filed 3 Court Order in order to obtain copies of records. 4 Further, Plaintiffs have volunteered to pay reasonable fees and judicial costs associated 5 with the requested production of telephone records. Plaintiffs have been informed by TELUS 6 Communications Inc. that they will produce telephone records only pursuant to a filed court Order. 7\| Thus, it is necessary to compel production of telephone records through a Letter Rogatory. 8 Defendants do not oppose the issuance of Letters Rogatory compelling the phone records 9 of the executives of defendants in this case listed in the attached Exhibit A. Defendants’ non- 10 opposition is made without prejudice to its right to oppose the introduction of any documents or 11 information obtained from TELUS Communications Inc. based on any objection allowed by the 12 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or other applicable law. Defendants expressly reserve all 13 evidentiary and trial objections. Defendants further reserve the right to obtain from Plaintiffs 14 copies of all documents obtained from TELUS Communications Inc. pursuant to the Letters 15 Rogatory. 16 DATED this 3rd day of December, 2019. 7 KELLER ROHRBACK L.L.P. I8 By: /s/Karin B. Swope 19 Mark A. Griffin, WSBA #16296 Raymond J. Farrow, WSBA #31782 20 Karin B. Swope, WSBA #24015 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3200 21 Seattle, WA 98101 Phone: (206) 623-1900 Fax: (206) 623-3384 23 meriffin@kellerrohrback.com rfarrow@kellerrohrback.com 24 kswope@kellerrohrback.com 2 LOCKRIDGE GRINDAL NAUEN 2%6 P.L.L.P. W. Joseph Bruckner (MN#0147758) UNOPPOSED MOTION AND QR ORDER GRANTING KELLER ROHRBACK L.L.P. FOR LETTERS ROGATORY RE: TELEPHONE RECORDS (19- 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3200 00288-MJP) - 3 TELEPHON 308) 623.1900 FACSIMILE: (206) 623-3384
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I The Honorable Marsha J. Pechman 2 3 4 5 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON IN RE CEDAR SHAKE & SHINGLE No. 2:19-cv-00288-MJP This Document Relates to: UNOPPOSED MOTION AND ll QgunmemEES ORDER GRANTING LETTERS ROGATORY RE: 12]! All Class Actions TELEPHONE RECORDS TO TELUS 3 COMMUNICATIONS INC.
15 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 28(b)(3) and 28 U.S.C. 1781(b)(2), 16 undersigned Plaintiffs (“Plaintiffs”) move this Court for an Order issuing the attached Letters 17 Rogatory to the appropriate authorities in British Columbia, Canada for the telephone records of 18 certain executives and competitors of Defendants in this case. Plaintiffs seek telephone records 19 of telephone calls made to and from executives and competitors of Defendants in Canada. 20 Defendants have been consulted and do not oppose this motion. 21 Courts have the inherent authority to issue Letters Rogatory and Letters of Request to 22 foreign nations, and may request that the foreign nation order a witness to provide testimony that 23 will aid in the resolution of a matter pending in the United States. See United States v. Reagan, 24 453 F.2d 165, 172 (6th Cir. 1971); United States v. Staples, 256 F.2d 290, 292 (9th Cir. 1958). In 25 addition, federal statutes provide for the issuance of Letters Rogatory by a federal court. Under 26 28 U.S.C. § 1781(b)(2), a tribunal in the United States may directly transmit a Letter Rogatory or UNOPPOSED MOTION AND SE ORDER GRANTING KELLER ROHRBACK L.L.P. FOR LETTERS ROGATORY RE: TELEPHONE RECORDS (19- 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3200 00288-MJP) - 1 TELEPHONE: (206) 623-1900 FACSIMILE: (206) 623-3384
1 request to a foreign or international tribunal. The British Columbia Evidence Act also provides 2 that a court outside of Canada may serve Letters Rogatory upon a Canadian court. British 3 Columbia Evidence Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, C. 124 § 53. 4 On applications for the issuance of Letters Rogatory, the Court will not ordinarily weigh 5 the evidence to be elicited, nor will the Court determine whether the witnesses will be able to 6 provide the anticipated testimony. B&L Drilling Electronics vy. Totco, 87 F.R.D. 543, 545 (W.D. 7 Okla. 1978). Rather, “good reason” must be shown for denying the issuance of a Letter 8 Rogatory. Zassenhaus v. Evening Star Newspaper Co., 404 F.2d 1361, 1364 (D.C. Cir. 1968). 9 Here, Plaintiffs seek to obtain telephone records to provide further evidence to prove the 10 allegations in their Second Amended Complaint filed in the above referenced case, namely that 11 ] the alleged co-conspirators furthered the conspiracy to coordinate price fixing for cedar shakes 12 and shingles over the phone. For example, Plaintiffs allege that Mr. Dziedzic, G & R’s Sales 13 Manager spoke on the phone with some competitors, either Brooke Meeker of Anbrook 14 Industries or Curtis Walker of Waldun Forest Products, who asked him to raise G & R’s shake 15 and shingle prices. Pl. Liebo’s Second Amended Complaint, § 201. 16 Plaintiffs further allege Defendants Waldun and CSSB “pressure[d] Teal to raise its prices 17 via phone conversations.” Jd. at § 218. Plaintiffs allege that, “on multiple occasions during the 18 last 10 years, Curtis Walker made calls to Pacific Cedar’s Vice President Kathy Klassen, in which 19 he told her that her company’s cedar shake and shingle prices were too low and urged her to raise 20 those prices to levels recommended by Mr. Walker.” Jd. at § 219. Plaintiffs allege that “[oJn 21 multiple occasions ... Curtis Walker made calls to Bill Maitland of Goat Lake Cedar in which he 22 asked Mr. Maitland to raise his company’s cedar shake and shingle prices to levels recommended 23 by Mr. Walker. at § 220. Plaintiffs seek phone records of these and other calls to prove their 24 case. 25 Moreover, the issuing of a Letter Rogatory will not be overly burdensome. Plaintiffs seek 26 telephone records of only 56 telephone numbers from January 1, 2011 to the date of collection.
UNOPPOSED MOTION AND QS ORDER GRANTING KELLER ROHRBACK L.L.P. FOR LETTERS ROGATORY RE: TELEPHONE RECORDS (19- 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3200 00288-MIP) - 2 TELEPHONE: (206) 623-1900 FACSIMILE: (206) 623-3364
1 These documents are regularly produced by TELUS Communications Inc., as evidenced by the 2 fact that that they have a policy for producing telephone records, i.e., one has to submit a filed 3 Court Order in order to obtain copies of records. 4 Further, Plaintiffs have volunteered to pay reasonable fees and judicial costs associated 5 with the requested production of telephone records. Plaintiffs have been informed by TELUS 6 Communications Inc. that they will produce telephone records only pursuant to a filed court Order. 7\| Thus, it is necessary to compel production of telephone records through a Letter Rogatory. 8 Defendants do not oppose the issuance of Letters Rogatory compelling the phone records 9 of the executives of defendants in this case listed in the attached Exhibit A. Defendants’ non- 10 opposition is made without prejudice to its right to oppose the introduction of any documents or 11 information obtained from TELUS Communications Inc. based on any objection allowed by the 12 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or other applicable law. Defendants expressly reserve all 13 evidentiary and trial objections. Defendants further reserve the right to obtain from Plaintiffs 14 copies of all documents obtained from TELUS Communications Inc. pursuant to the Letters 15 Rogatory. 16 DATED this 3rd day of December, 2019. 7 KELLER ROHRBACK L.L.P. I8 By: /s/Karin B. Swope 19 Mark A. Griffin, WSBA #16296 Raymond J. Farrow, WSBA #31782 20 Karin B. Swope, WSBA #24015 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3200 21 Seattle, WA 98101 Phone: (206) 623-1900 Fax: (206) 623-3384 23 meriffin@kellerrohrback.com rfarrow@kellerrohrback.com 24 kswope@kellerrohrback.com 2 LOCKRIDGE GRINDAL NAUEN 2%6 P.L.L.P. W. Joseph Bruckner (MN#0147758) UNOPPOSED MOTION AND QR ORDER GRANTING KELLER ROHRBACK L.L.P. FOR LETTERS ROGATORY RE: TELEPHONE RECORDS (19- 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3200 00288-MJP) - 3 TELEPHON 308) 623.1900 FACSIMILE: (206) 623-3384
Elizabeth R. Odette (MN#0340698) Brian D. Clark (MN#00390069) 2 Arielle S. Wagner (MN#00398332) 3 100 Washington Avenue S., Suite 2200 Minneapolis, MN 55401 4 Phone: (612) 339-6900 Fax: (612) 339-0981 5 wjbruckner@locklaw.com erodette@locklaw.com 6 bdclark@locklaw.com 7 aswagner@locklaw.com 8 Co-Lead Counsel for the Proposed End User Plaintiff Classes 9 10 MCNAUL EBEL NAWROT & TOUSLEY BRAIN STEPHENS ll HELGREN PLLC Kaleigh N.B. Powell, WSBA #52684 Gregory J Hollon, WSBA #26311 Kim D. Stephens, WSBA #11984 12 600 University Street, Suite 2700 Chase C. Alvord, WSBA #26080 Seattle, WA 98101-3143 1700 Seventh Avenue, Suite 22200 13 Phone: (206) 467-1816 Seattle, WA 98101 14 Fax: (206) 624-5128 Phone: (206) 682-5600 ghollon@menaul.com kpowell@tousley.com 15 kstephens@tousley.com Liaison Counsel for the Proposed Reseller _ calvord@tousley.com 16 Indirect Purchaser Plaintiff Classes HAUSFELD LLP 17 BURNS CHAREST LLP Bonney Sweeney 18 Christopher J Cormier Samantha Stein 5290 Denver Tech Center Pkway, Suite 150 600 Montgomery Street, Suite3200 19 Greenwood Village, CO 80111 San Francisco, CA 94111 Phone: (720) 630-2092 Phone: (415) 633-1908 20 ccormier@pburnscharest.com bsweeney@hausfeld.com sstein@hausfeld.com BURNS CHAREST LLP Warren T. Burns HAUSFELD LLP Spencer M Cox James J. Pizzirusso 23 William B. Thompson Nathaniel C. Giddings 900 Jackson Street, Suite 500 Paul Gallagher 24 Dallas, TX 75202 1700 K Street NW, Suite 650 Phone: (469) 904-4550 Washington, DC 20006 25 wburns@burnscharest.com Phone: (202) 540-7200 % scox@burnscharest.com Jpizzirusso@hausfeld.com wthompson@pburnscharest.com ngiddings@hausfeld.com UNOPPOSED MOTION AND @EEY ORDER GRANTING KELLER ROHRBACK L.L.P. FOR LETTERS ROGATORY RE: TELEPHONE RECORDS (19- 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3200 00288-MJP) - 4 TELEPHONE, (208) 623-1900 FACSIMILE: (206) 623-3384
1 pgallagher@hausfeld.com BURNS CHAREST LLP 2 Lydia A Wright Co-Lead Counsel for the Proposed Direct 3 365 Canal Street, Suite 1170 Purchaser Plaintiff Class New Orleans, LA 70130 4 Phone: (504) 799-2845 lwright@burnscharest.com 5 STOLL BERNE LOKTING & 6 SHLACHETER PC 7 Keith Dubanevich 209 SW Oak Street, Suite 500 8 Portland, OR 97204 Phone: (503) 227-1600 9 kdubanevich@stollberne.com 10 Co-Lead Counsel for the Proposed Indirect □ . ll Purchaser Plaintiff Classes IL. Gees ORDER 13 Upon consideration of the pleadings, declarations, and orders filed to date in this case, the M4 Court finds and orders as follows: 15 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED THAT: 16 The Court, having reviewed the submitted material and relevant authority, and therefore M7 being fully informed, GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Unopposed Motion and Proposed Order For Letters 18 Rogatory Re Telephone Records and will execute the Letters Rogatory without delay.
20 DATED this 6 day of December 2019. Mee ctbee/ loco 22 Honorable Marsha J. Rechman 73 United States District Court Judge 24 25 26
UNOPPOSED MOTION AND ORDER GRANTING KELLER ROHRBACK L.L.P. FOR LETTERS ROGATORY RE: TELEPHONE RECORDS (19- 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3200 00288-MJP) - 5 TELEOHONE. (208) 623.1900 FACSIMILE: (206) 623-3384