in Re Volkswagen Clean Diesel Litigation: Texas Clean Air Act Enforcement Cases

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided January 4, 2017·No. 03-16-00718-CV·Published

Opinion

ACCEPTED 03-16-00718-CV 14556843 THIRD COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS 1/4/2017 2:27:28 PM JEFFREY D. KYLE CLERK NO. 03-16-00718-CV

___________________________________ FILED IN 3rd COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 1/4/2017 2:27:28 PM FOR THE THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT JEFFREY D. KYLE __________________________________ Clerk

IN RE VOLKSWAGEN CLEAN DIESEL LITIGATION:

TCAA ENFORCEMENT CASE

VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA, INC. AND PORSCHE CARS NORTH AMERICA, INC.’S SUPPLEMENT TO THEIR MOTION TO EXPEDITE THEIR MOTION TO STAY MDL COURT PROCEEDINGS AND EMERGENCY REQUEST FOR TEMPORARY STAY DURING THE PENDENCY OF THEIR STAY MOTION

C. VERNON HARTLINE, JR. State Bar No. 09159500 hartline@flash.net

HARTLINE DACUS BARGER DREYER LLP 8750 N. Central Expressway, Suite 1600 Dallas, Texas 75231 214-369-2100 214-369-2118 fax

And

DARRELL L. BARGER State Bar No. 01733800 dbarger@hdbdlaw.com

HARTLINE DACUS BARGER DREYER LLP 1980 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 1800 Houston, Texas 77056 713-759-1990 713-652-2419 fax

And

RICHARD W. CREWS, JR. State Bar No. 05075500 rcrews@hdbdlaw.com

HARTLINE DACUS BARGER DREYER LLP 800 North Shoreline Blvd. Suite 2000, North Tower Corpus Christi, TX 78401 361-866-8000 361-866-8039 fax

And

JEFFREY L. CHASE NY State Bar No. 1002203 jchase@herzfeld-rubin.com (pro hac vice motion to be filed)

MICHAEL B. GALLUB NY State Bar No. 2141851 mgallub@herzfeld-rubin.com (pro hac vice motion to be filed)

HERZFELD & RUBIN, P.C. 125 Broad Street New York, New York 10004 212-471-8459 212-344-3333 fax

And

ROBERT J. GIUFFRA, JR. New York State Bar 2309177 giuffrar@sullcrom.com SHARON L. NELLES New York State Bar 2613073 nelless@sullcrom.com WILLIAM B. MONAHAN New York State Bar 4229027 monahanw@sullcrom.com

SULLIVAN & CROMWELL LLP 125 Broad Street New York, New York 10004 212-558-4000 Fax: 212-558-3588

ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANTS VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA, INC., AUDI OF AMERICA, LLC AND VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA CHATTANOOGA OPERATIONS, LLC

And

DARREN L.MCCARTY State Bar No. 24007631 darren.mccarty@alston.com

ALSTON & BIRD LLP 2828 North Harwood Street, Suite 1800 Dallas, Texas 75201 (214) 922-3400 –Telephone (214) 922-3899 –Facsimile

COUNSEL FOR PORSCHE CARS NORTH AMERICA, INC.

Yesterday, after Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (“VWGoA”) and

Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (“Porsche”) filed their Motion to Expedite Their

Motion to Stay MDL Court Proceedings and Emergency Request for Temporary

Stay During the Pendency of Their Stay Motion, Plaintiffs filed a letter with the

MDL Court requesting that scheduling of depositions be discussed at a status

hearing scheduled for this Friday, January 6, 2017. VWGoA and Porsche

accordingly file this Supplement to their Motion, attaching Plaintiffs’ recently filed

letter.

I.

Plaintiffs Seek to Discuss the Scheduling of Depositions at a Status Hearing in Two Days

On January 3, 2017, Government Liaison Counsel for the State of Texas and

Lead Council for the TCAA County Plaintiffs sent a letter to the MDL Court

(Sulak, J.) regarding items to be discussed at an upcoming status conference

hearing on January 6, 2017.1 Plaintiffs’ counsel requested that the MDL Court and

all counsel address at the hearing: “[t]he intention of the Texas MDL Plaintiffs’

Leadership to notice depositions in the Texas MDL and VW’s initial response to

those efforts.” It is apparent that, notwithstanding the automatic stay, Plaintiffs

wish to schedule six depositions (see Exhibit A to VWGoA’s and Porsche’s

1 The letter is attached hereto and incorporated herein for all purposes as Exhibit “C.”

Motion to Expedite) in the near future, and apparently seek the MDL Court’s

intervention in scheduling the depositions.

VWGoA and Porsche accordingly request that, for this additional reason,

this Court (a) expedite a ruling on their Motion to Stay, and (b) enter a temporary

stay of all proceedings in cause number D-GN-16-000370 until their Motion to

Stay is decided.

II.

Conclusion & Prayer

VWGoA and Porsche request the Court expedite their Motion to Stay MDL

Court Proceedings, acknowledging and enforcing the automatic stay of all

proceedings in cause number D-GN-16-000370, and enter a temporary stay of all

proceedings in cause number D-GN-16-000370 until their Motion to Stay is

decided.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ C. Vernon Hartline, Jr. C. VERNON HARTLINE, JR. State Bar No. 09159500 hartline@flash.net

HARTLINE DACUS BARGER DREYER LLP 8750 N. Central Expressway, Suite 1600 Dallas, Texas 75231 214-369-2100 214-369-2118 fax

And

DARRELL L. BARGER State Bar No. 01733800 dbarger@hdbdlaw.com

HARTLINE DACUS BARGER DREYER LLP 1980 Post Oak Boulevard, Suite 1800 Houston, Texas 77056 713-759-1990 713-652-2419 fax

And

RICHARD W. CREWS, JR. State Bar No. 05075500 rcrews@hdbdlaw.com

HARTLINE DACUS BARGER DREYER LLP 800 North Shoreline Blvd. Suite 2000, North Tower Corpus Christi, TX 78401 361-866-8000 361-866-8039 fax

And

JEFFREY L. CHASE NY State Bar No. 1002203 jchase@herzfeld-rubin.com (pro hac vice motion to be filed)

MICHAEL B. GALLUB NY State Bar No. 2141851 mgallub@herzfeld-rubin.com (pro hac vice motion to be filed)

HERZFELD & RUBIN, P.C. 125 Broad Street New York, New York 10004 212-471-8459 212-344-3333 fax

And

SULLIVAN & CROMWELL LLP 125 Broad Street New York, New York 10004 212-558-4000 Fax: 212-558-3588

ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANTS VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA, INC., AUDI OF AMERICA, LLC AND VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA CHATTANOOGA OPERATIONS, LLC

And

DARREN L.MCCARTY State Bar No. 24007631 darren.mccarty@alston.com

ALSTON & BIRD LLP 2828 North Harwood Street, Suite 1800 Dallas, Texas 75201 (214) 922-3400 –Telephone (214) 922-3899 –Facsimile

COUNSEL FOR PORSCHE CARS NORTH AMERICA, INC.

CERTIFICATE OF CONFERENCE

I hereby certify that on the 3rd day of January, 2017, counsel for VWGoA conferred with counsel for the State of Texas and counsel for the Counties involved in TCAA Enforcement Case MDL, Cause No. D-1-GN-16-000370. Both counsel indicated they were opposed to VWGoA’s and Porsche’s Motion to Expedite their Motion to Stay MDL Court Proceedings, so are likewise opposed to this supplement.

/s/ C. Vernon Hartline, Jr. C. VERNON HARTLINE, JR.

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on the 4th day of January, 2017, a true and correct copy of this pleading was served in accordance with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure on all known counsel of record.

/s/ C. Vernon Hartline, Jr. C. VERNON HARTLINE, JR.

EXHIBIT C

January 3, 2017

Honorable Judge Tim Sulak via electronic filing and email: 353rd District Court of Travis County Pam.Seger@traviscountytx.gov Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse P. O. Box 1748 Austin, Texas 78767

RE: Cause No. D-1-GN-16-000370; In re Volkswagen Clean Diesel Litigation (MDL 15-

0884) in the 353rd Judicial District Court of Travis County

Cause No. D-1-GN-16-000449; In re Volkswagen Clean Diesel Litigation (MDL 15- 0884); in the 353rd Judicial District Court of Travis County

Dear Judge Sulak:

In advance of the January 6, 2017 status conference, the State and counsel for the TCAA County Plaintiffs write to notify the Court and all counsel that the State intends to address the following issues at the status conference:

• Recent developments in the Federal MDL in the Northern District of California, the subsequent cancellation of depositions in that proceeding and the impact of those developments on coordination of depositions scheduled to occur in the Federal MDL; and • The intention of the Texas MDL Plaintiffs’ Leadership to notice depositions in the Texas MDL and VW’s initial response to those efforts.

The State will also stand ready to address any issues which the Court wishes it to address.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

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