Casner et al v. Examsoft Worldwide, Inc.

MOTION

N.D. Ill.October 15, 2014

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION MICHAEL CASNER, STANLEY CONSTANTINE, and SEAN WHATLEY, Plaintiffs, v. EXAMSOFT WORLDWIDE, INC., Defendant. Honorable Edmond E. Chang Case No. 1:14-cv-7145 JOINT MOTION TO STAY PROCEEDINGS Plaintiffs Michael Casner, Stanley Constantine, and Sean Whatley (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) and Defendant ExamSoft Worldwide, Inc. (“ExamSoft” or “Defendant”) submit this joint motion to stay proceedings in the above-captioned action pending mediation before Rodney A. Max, of Upchurch Watson White & Max. In support of the motion, Plaintiffs and Defendant state as follows: 1. On August 5, 2014, Plaintiffs filed their complaint in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, and Defendant removed this action to this Court on September 12, 2014. 2. Five other putative class action complaints have been filed against ExamSoft asserting substantially similar causes of action grounded in substantially similar alleged facts (collectively, the “Related Actions”), and are now pending in various district courts across the country, including one pending before Honorable Judge Thomas M. Durkin, Litchfield, et al. v. ExamSoft Worldwide, Inc., Case No. 1:14-cv-5971. Case: 1:14-cv-07145 Document #: 14 Filed: 10/15/14 Page 1 of 6 PageID #:62 3. The Court has set certain dates in this suit, including a deadline for Defendant’s response to the complaint and an initial status hearing (with accompanying report) on October 29, 2014. 4. Defendant and Plaintiffs in this action, as well as plaintiffs in all of the Related Action have agreed to engage in a global mediation before Mr. Max in Chicago, Illinois, at a date to be determined, but prior to February 2015. WHEREFORE, to promote judicial economy and efficiency, and to prevent unnecessary litigation and inconsistent results, Plaintiffs and Defendant respectfully request that the Court grant this Motion to Stay and order that all proceedings in this action be stayed, including an adjournment of the Court’s initial status hearing set for October 29, 2014, until February 13, 2015, pending their mediation. Case: 1:14-cv-07145 Document #: 14 Filed: 10/15/14 Page 2 of 6 PageID #:63 Dated: October 15, 2014 Respectfully submitted, /s/ Benjamin F. Johns__ __ Benjamin F. Johns (admitted pro hac vice) Joseph B. Kenney (Pa I.D. No. 316557) CHIMICLES & TIKELLIS LLP One Haverford Centre 361 West Lancaster Avenue Haverford, PA 19041 Tel. (610) 642-8500 Fax (610) 649-3633 BFJ@chimicles.com JBK@chimicles.com Marvin A. Miller Lori A. Fanning MILLER LAW LLC 115 South LaSalle Street, Suite 2910 Chicago, IL 60603 Tel. (312) 332-3400 Mmiller@millerlawllc.com Lfanning@millerlawllc.com Attorneys for Plaintiffs /s/ Benjamin Sandahl___________________ Benjamin Sandahl KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP 300 North LaSalle St. Chicago, IL 60654 bsandahl@kirkland.com Tel. (312) 862-2000 Fax (312) 862-2200 Jay P. Lefkowitz, P.C. (pro hac vice application forthcoming) Joseph Serino Jr., P.C. (pro hac vice application forthcoming) Kristin Sheffield-Whitefield (pro hac vice application forthcoming) KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP 601 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10022 Tel. (212) 446-4800 Fax (212) 446-6460 lefkowitz@kirkland.com jserino@kirkland.com kwhitehead@kirkland.com Attorneys for Defendant Case: 1:14-cv-07145 Document #: 14 Filed: 10/15/14 Page 3 of 6 PageID #:64 EXHIBIT A [PROPOSED] ORDER Case: 1:14-cv-07145 Document #: 14 Filed: 10/15/14 Page 4 of 6 PageID #:65 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION MICHAEL CASNER, STANLEY CONSTANTINE, and SEAN WHATLEY, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. EXAMSOFT WORLDWIDE, INC., Defendant. Honorable Edmond E. Chang Case No. 1:14-cv-7145 ORDER The Court having considered the pending Joint Motion to Stay Proceedings; it is hereby ORDERED that the motion is GRANTED in full. The proceedings in this action are hereby stayed until February 13, 2015, including an adjournment of the Court’s initial status hearing set for October 29, 2014. The parties are hereby ORDERED to file a joint status report with the Court no later than February 13, 2015 informing the Court as to the status of their mediation efforts. SO ORDERED: Dated: this____ day of ______________, 2014 ______________________________ United States District Judge Case: 1:14-cv-07145 Document #: 14 Filed: 10/15/14 Page 5 of 6 PageID #:66 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE On October 15, 2014, I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of the Court by using the CM/ECF system which will send a notice of electronic filing to all persons registered for ECF. All copies of documents required to be served by Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(a) have been so served. /s/ Benjamin Sandahl Case: 1:14-cv-07145 Document #: 14 Filed: 10/15/14 Page 6 of 6 PageID #:67