Summary
ordering videotaped deposition
Summary of this case from In re "AGENT ORANGE" Product Liability LitigationOpinion
No. CV 80-1273. MDL No. 381.
June 4, 1980.
Victor J. Yannacone, Jr., Yannacone Yannacone, Patchogue, N Y, Schlegel Trafelet, Ltd., L. Steven Platt, Daniel C. Sullivan, Sullivan Associates, Ltd., Chicago, Ill., Hy Mayerson, Spring City, Pa., David Jaroslawicz, New York City, Newton B. Schwartz, P.C., Benton Musslewhite, Inc., Houston, Tex., Melvin Block, Brooklyn, N.Y., Marshall A. Bernstein, Bernstein, Bernstein Harrison, Philadelphia, Pa., Louis B. Merhige, New Orleans, La., Dennis M. O'Malley, Grant Artesani, Boston, Mass., Dorothy Thompson, Los Angeles, Cal., W.T. McMillan, W.T. McMillan Co., associated counsel for Australian plaintiffs, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Jerry G. Wieslander, Frank G. Wieslander, Altoona, Iowa, Lewis A. Royal, Samuel Zelden, Des Moines, Iowa, David C. Anson, Deconcini, McDonald, Brammer, Yetwin Lacy, Tucson, Ariz., Phillip E. Brown, Hoberg, Finger, Brown, Cox Molliga, San Francisco, Cal., Leslie Hulnick, Wichita, Kan., Sidney W. Gilreath, Knoxville, Tenn., Stephen J. Cavanaugh, Bellaire, Tex., Robert P. Schuster, Spence, Moriarty Schuster, Jackson, Wyo., Alton C. Todd, Brown Todd, Alvin, Tex., Jules B. Olsman, Southfield, Mich., Gerald J. Adler, Crow, Lytle, Gilwee, Donoghue, Adler Weninger, Sacramento, Cal., Jack E. London, Miami, Fla., David J. Ghilardi, Madison, Wis., William G. Morgan, William A. Cohan, Denver, Colo., William J. Risner, Tucson, Ariz., James L. Witzel, McKelvey, Cottom Witzel, East Lansing, Mich., Robert I.P. Pasternak, Jane R. Kaplan, Berkeley, Cal., Norton Frickey, Denver, Colo., Dante Mattioni, Philadelphia, Pa., Elgin L. Crull, Louisville, Ky., Charles J. Traylor, Grand Junction, Colo., Victor L. Marcello, Talbot, Sotile, Carmouche, Waquespach Marchand, Donaldsonville, La., Janet T. Phillips, Rodgers, Monsley, Woodbury Berggreen, Las Vegas, Nev., William D. Nelsch, Denver, Colo., Robert C. Huntley, Jr., Racine, Huntley Olson, Pocatello, Idaho, Jacque B. Pucheu, Pucheu Pucheu, Eunice, La., Jeffrey M. Stopford, Litvin, Blumberg, Matusow Young, Philadelphia, Pa., Joseph D. Jamail, Jamail Kolius, Houston, Tex., Leonard W. Schroeter, J. Kathleen Learned, Schroeter, Goldmark Bender, P.S., Seattle, Wash., for plaintiffs.
Leonard L. Rivkin, Rivkin, Leff Sherman, Garden City, N Y, for Dow Chemical.
Morton B. Silberman, Clark, Gagliardi Miller, White Plains, N.Y., Baker McKenzie, Chicago, Ill., for Thompson-Hayward.
Wendell B. Alcorn, Jr., Cadwalader, Wickersham Taft, New York City, for Diamond Shamrock.
Townley Updike, New York City, for Monsanto.
Bud Holman and William Krohley, Kelley, Drye Warren, New York City, for Hercules, Inc.
William H. Sanders, William A. Lynch and Paul G. Lane, Blackwell, Sanders, Matheny, Weary Lombardi, Kansas City, Mo., for N.A. Phillips.
John M. Fitzpatrick, Dilworth, Paxson, Kalish, Lelvy Kauffman, Philadelphia, Pa., for Hooker Chemical Co.
Joan Bernott, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for third-party defendant U.S.
Roy L. Reardon, James P. Barrett, and Michael V. Corrigan, Simpson, Thacher Bartlett, New York City, for Ansul Co.
Damien T. Wren, Lewis, Overbeck Furman, Chicago, Ill., for Riverdale Chemical Co.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
By order to show cause returnable June 4, 1980, defendant Thompson-Hayward Chemical Company, joined by defendants Dow Chemical Company, Hercules, Monsanto and Diamond Shamrock, seeks an order striking plaintiff's notice to take plaintiff's deposition by videotape on June 6, 1980 at 10:00 a.m.
At oral argument the defendants' objections to plaintiff's notice were reduced to problems of timing. Defendants argue that plaintiff's failure to respond to their requests for medical information and records has deprived them of the ability to properly prepare for the June 6 deposition. Counsel for plaintiff insists that his client's physical condition requires that the deposition be taken as soon as possible.
Having considered the affidavit of plaintiff's physician and the arguments and submissions of counsel, the court has determined that the deposition of plaintiff should proceed as scheduled on June 6, 1980 at 10:00 a.m. at the federal courthouse in Philadelphia. The parties are to use the videotape deposition procedures previously set forth in the court's January 18, 1980 memorandum and order in the Hartz case, 79 C 2752.
As with the Hartz deposition, the court recognizes that defendants may not be able to fully prepare their cross-examination of plaintiff in time for the June 6 deposition. Nevertheless, defendants will have an opportunity to cross-examine plaintiff at the June 6 deposition, and the court expects that defendants will exercise that opportunity to the greatest extent possible under the circumstances. Defendants will then have the opportunity to conduct any additional cross-examination they require on 5 days' notice.
If plaintiff's condition ultimately prevents the defendants from obtaining full and complete cross-examination, the diligence of the parties in preparing for and obtaining the full testimony of plaintiff may be an important factor in deciding whether plaintiff will be permitted to use any of the deposition testimony taken.
SO ORDERED.