Ferrari, et al v. Accredo Health, Inc., et al

MOTION in Limine Lead Plaintiffs' Motion in Limine #15 to Permit Lead Plaintiffs to Examine Witnesses Identified with Defendants

W.D. Tenn.September 8, 2008

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE WESTERN DIVISION In re ACCREDO HEALTH, INC. SECURITIES LITIGATION This Document Relates To: ALL ACTIONS. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Civil Action No. 03-2216-BBD CLASS ACTION LEAD PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION IN LIMINE #15 TO PERMIT LEAD PLAINTIFFS TO EXAMINE WITNESSES IDENTIFIED WITH DEFENDANTS BY LEADING QUESTIONS AND TO PRECLUDE DEFENDANTS FROM EXAMINING WITNESSES IDENTIFIED WITH THEM BY LEADING QUESTIONS DURING LEAD PLAINTIFFS’ CASE-IN-CHIEF Case 2:03-cv-02216-BBD-gbc Document 433 Filed 09/08/08 Page 1 of 11 - 1 - Lead Plaintiffs, Louisiana School Employees’ Retirement System and Debra Swiman (together, “Lead Plaintiffs”) and the Class of investors who purchased Accredo stock between June 16, 2002 and April 7, 2003, respectfully ask the Court to permit Lead Plaintiffs to examine witnesses identified with Defendants by leading questions, pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 611(c), and likewise to preclude Defendants from examining those same witnesses by leading questions during Lead Plaintiffs’ case-in-chief. Lead Plaintiffs intend to call in their case-in-chief several witnesses who are either current or former employees or agents of Accredo. Lead Plaintiffs should be permitted to examine these witnesses with leading questions, pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 611(c). Along the same lines, Defendants should be precluded from asking leading questions of their own witnesses whom Lead Plaintiffs call during their case-in-chief. Federal Rule of Evidence 611(c) provides that, “[w]hen a party calls a hostile witness, an adverse party, or a witness identified with an adverse party, interrogation may be by leading questions.” 1 The phrase “witness identified with an adverse party is intended to apply broadly to an identification based upon employment by the party or by virtue of a demonstrated connection to an opposing party.” United States v. McLaughlin, No. 95-CR-113, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18588, at *3 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 19, 1998). Many of the witnesses Lead Plaintiffs may call are current or former employees of Accredo, who served in a variety of positions and in some cases reported directly to the individual defendants. Additionally, some of Lead Plaintiffs’ intended witnesses served as the Ernst & Young auditors hired by Accredo before and during the Class Period. Because these witnesses are “identified with” adverse parties, Rule 611(c) permits plaintiffs to use leading questions to examine them. See 1 All emphasis added and all internal quotations and citations omitted, unless otherwise noted. Case 2:03-cv-02216-BBD-gbc Document 433 Filed 09/08/08 Page 2 of 11 - 2 - Chonich v. Wayne County Cmty. College, 874 F.2d 359, 368 (6th Cir. 1989) (affirming district court, which allowed the defendant college’s current and former employees to be examined with leading questions “as witnesses identified with an adverse party under F.R.E. 611(c)”); Vanemmerik v. Ground Round, No. 97-5923, 1998 U.S. LEXIS 11765, at *6 (E.D. Pa. July 16, 1998) (“[T]he identified with clause of Federal Rule of Evidence 611(c) has been generally interpreted to mean agents, friends, relatives or employees.”). All of the current and/or former employee witnesses, identified as witnesses by Lead Plaintiffs, have been represented by Defendants’ counsel, Alston & Bird, at Defendants’ (or their insurer’s) expense, during their depositions and each of these former employee witnesses spent significant time with Defendants’ counsel in preparation for their depositions. This is further evidence indicating their association with Defendants. See McLaughlin, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18588, at *3 (“witness identified with an adverse party” is, in part, based upon a “demonstrated connection to an opposing party”). Because these witnesses are current or former employees of Defendants or Defendants’ auditors, and because many have been represented in this matter by Defendants’ legal counsel, they are undoubtedly “identified with” Defendants. Therefore, Lead Plaintiffs should be permitted to conduct their direct examination of such adverse witnesses with leading questions. Additionally, and for the same reasons, Defendants should be precluded from examining witnesses “identified with” Defendants using leading questions. See Woods v. Lecureux, 110 F.3d 1215, 1221 (6th Cir. 1997) (noting that Rule 611(c) “ordinarily” permits examination with leading questions of an “adverse party” and a “witness identified with an adverse party,” and quoting the Advisory Committee Notes to Rule 611(c) for the proposition that “[t]he purpose of the qualification “ordinarily” is to furnish a basis for denying the use of leading questions when the cross- examination is cross-examination in form only and not in fact . . . .”) Because these witnesses are Case 2:03-cv-02216-BBD-gbc Document 433 Filed 09/08/08 Page 3 of 11 - 3 - current or former employees of Defendants or Defendants’ auditors, and because many have been represented in this matter by Defendants’ legal counsel, they are undoubtedly “identified with” Defendants. Thus, Defendants should be precluded from examining current and/or former Accredo employees and Ernst & Young witnesses with leading questions. DATED: September 8, 2008 Respectfully submitted, COUGHLIN STOIA GELLER RUDMAN & ROBBINS LLP MARK SOLOMON TOR GRONBORG JONAH H. GOLDSTEIN DAVID W. MITCHELL TRIG R. SMITH NATHAN W. BEAR s/ TOR GRONBORG TOR GRONBORG 655 West Broadway, Suite 1900 San Diego, CA 92101 Telephone: 619/231-1058 619/231-7423 (fax) BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ BERGER & GROSSMANN LLP BLAIR A. NICHOLAS TIMOTHY A. DELANGE BRETT M. MIDDLETON MATTHEW P. JUBENVILLE 12481 High Bluff Drive, Suite 300 San Diego, CA 92130 Telephone: 858/793-0070 858/793-0323 (fax) Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs GLASSMAN, EDWARDS, WADE & WYATT, P.C. B.J. WADE, #5182 26 N. Second Street Building Memphis, TN 38103 Telephone: 901/527-4673 901/521-0940 (fax) Case 2:03-cv-02216-BBD-gbc Document 433 Filed 09/08/08 Page 4 of 11 - 4 - Liaison Counsel C:\Program Files\DocsCorp\pdfDocs PDF\users\MicheleH\Import\brf00053886 mil3.doc Case 2:03-cv-02216-BBD-gbc Document 433 Filed 09/08/08 Page 5 of 11 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on September 8, 2008, I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF system which will send notification of such filing to the e-mail addresses denoted on the attached Electronic Mail Notice List, and I hereby certify that I have mailed the foregoing document or paper via the United States Postal Service to the non-CM/ECF participants indicated on the attached Manual Notice List. I certify under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on September 8, 2008. s/ TOR GRONBORG TOR GRONBORG COUGHLIN STOIA GELLER RUDMAN & ROBBINS LLP 655 West Broadway, Suite 1900 San Diego, CA 92101-3301 Telephone: 619/231-1058 619/231-7423 (fax) E-mail:torg@csgrr.com Case 2:03-cv-02216-BBD-gbc Document 433 Filed 09/08/08 Page 6 of 11 Mailing Information for a Case 2:03-cv-02216-BBD-gbc Electronic Mail Notice List The following are those who are currently on the list to receive e-mail notices for this case. George E. Barrett gbarrett@barrettjohnston.com Nathan W. Bear NBear@csgrr.com,stremblay@csgrr.com Saul C. Belz sbelz@glankler.com,apospisil@glankler.com Paul Kent Bramlett pknashlaw@aol.com Linda F Burnsed lburnsed@cbslawyers.net Karen M. Campbell kcampbell@appersoncrump.com F. Guthrie Castle , Jr fgc@castle-law.com Stanley M. Chernau s.chernau@chernau.com Timothy A. DeLange timothyd@blbglaw.com,brettm@blbglaw.com,samj@blbglaw.com,kristinas@blbglaw.com,matthewj@blbglaw.com Amy Ferguson Dudek adudek@glankler.com,apospisil@glankler.com Jef Feibelman jfeibelman@bpjlaw.com,cbiscoe@bpjlaw.com Tor Gronborg torg@csgrr.com,e_file_sd@csgrr.com Douglas F. Halijan dhalijan@bpjlaw.com,mmarshall@bpjlaw.com Dixie W. Ishee woodcarltonishee@bellsouth.net Page 1 of 5CM/ECF - U.S. District Court:tnwd 9/8/2008https://ecf.tnwd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/MailList.pl?900591460987994-L_470_0-1 Case 2:03-cv-02216-BBD-gbc Document 433 Filed 09/08/08 Page 7 of 11 Matthew P. Jubenville matthewj@blbglaw.com Emily C. Komlossy ekomlossy@faruqilaw.com Quitman Robins Ledyard , II bledyard@borodandkramer.com Brett M. Middleton brettm@blbglaw.com Timothy L. Miles tmiles@barrettjohnston.com David W. Mitchell davidm@csgrr.com Blair N. Nicholas blairn@blbglaw.com Russell F.A. Riviere russellr@blbglaw.com Kevin Hunter Sharp ksharp@dsattorneys.com Scott N. Sherman scott.sherman@alston.com Gary K. Smith gsmith@appersoncrump.com,clunsford@appersoncrump.com,kcampbell@appersoncrump.com Trig R. Smith trigs@csgrr.com Mark D. Trainer mark.trainer@alston.com B. J. Wade bwade@gewwlaw.com Allison Wannamaker wannamakera@thomasonlaw.com Kelly C. Wilcove kelly.wilcove@alston.com,valerie.nouman@alston.com Manual Notice List Page 2 of 5CM/ECF - U.S. District Court:tnwd 9/8/2008https://ecf.tnwd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/MailList.pl?900591460987994-L_470_0-1 Case 2:03-cv-02216-BBD-gbc Document 433 Filed 09/08/08 Page 8 of 11 The following is the list of attorneys who are not on the list to receive e-mail notices for this case (who therefore require manual noticing). You may wish to use your mouse to select and copy this list into your word processing program in order to create notices or labels for these recipients. Ramzi Abadou LERACH COUGHLIN STOIA GELLER RUDMAN & ROBBINS, LLP 655 West Broadway Suite 1900 San Diego, CA 92101 Guri Ademi ADEMI & O'REILLY, LLP 3620 East Layton Ave. Cudahy, WI 53110 Shpetim Ademi ADEMI & O'REILLY, LLP 3620 East Layton Ave. Cudahy, WI 53110 Lauren S. Antonino CHITWOOD & HARLEY 1230 Peachtree St., N.E. 2900 Promenade II Atlanta, GA 30309 Peter Q. Bassett ALSTON & BIRD 1201 West Peachtree St. Atlanta, GA 30309-3424 Javier Bleichmar BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ BERGER & GROSSMAN 1285 Ave of the Americas 38th Floor New York, NY 10019 Martin D. Chitwood CHITWOOD HARLEY & HARNES LLP 1230 Peachtree St., N.E. 2900 Promenade II Atlanta, GA 30309 Patricia A. Connell ERNST & YOUNG 5 Times Square New York, NY 10036-6530 Gregory M. Egleston BERNSTEIN LIEBHARD & LIFSHITZ, LLP 10 East 40th Street New York, NY 10016 Nadeem Faruqi FARUQI & FARUQI, LLP 369 Lexington Avenue 10th Floor New York, NY 10017 Page 3 of 5CM/ECF - U.S. District Court:tnwd 9/8/2008https://ecf.tnwd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/MailList.pl?900591460987994-L_470_0-1 Case 2:03-cv-02216-BBD-gbc Document 433 Filed 09/08/08 Page 9 of 11 Mark C. Gardy ABBEY GARDY, LLP 212 East 39th St. New York, NY 10016 Carol V. Gilden MUCH SHELIST FREED DENENBERG AMENT & RUBENSTEIN, P.C. 191 N. Wacker Dr. Ste. 1800 Chicago, IL 60606-1615 Karen M. Hanson LOCKRIDGE GRINDAL NAUEN, PLLP 100 Washington Ave., South Ste. 2200 Minneapolis, MN 55401 Ronald B. Hauben ERNST & YOUNG 5 Times Square New York, NY 10036-6530 Marc S. Henzel LAW OFFICES OF MARC S. HENZEL 273 Montgomery Ave. Ste. 202 Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004 Fred Taylor Isquith , Esq WOLF HALDENSTEIN ADLER FREEMAN & HERZ LLP 270 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10016 Douglas S. Johnston BARRETT JOHNSTON & PARSLEY 217 Second Avenue North Nashville, TN 37201-1601 Nancy Kaboolian ABBEY GARDY, LLP 212 East 39th St. New York, NY 10016 William S. Lerach LERACH COUGHLIN STOIA GELLER RUDMAN & ROBBINS, LLP 655 West Broadway Suite 1900 San Diego, CA 92101 Mel E. Lifshitz BERNSTEIN LIEBHARD & LIFSHITZ, LLP 10 East 40th Street New York, NY 10016 Richard A. Lockridge LOCKRIDGE GRINDAL NAUEN, PLLP 100 Washington Ave., South Ste. 2200 Minneapolis, MN 55401 Page 4 of 5CM/ECF - U.S. District Court:tnwd 9/8/2008https://ecf.tnwd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/MailList.pl?900591460987994-L_470_0-1 Case 2:03-cv-02216-BBD-gbc Document 433 Filed 09/08/08 Page 10 of 11 Douglas M McKeige BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ BERGER & GROSSMAN 1285 Ave of the Americas 38th Floor New York, NY 10019 Eitan Misulovin BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ BERGER & GROSSMAN 1285 Ave of the Americas 38th Floor New York, NY 10019 Michael E. Moskovitz MUCH SHELIST FREED DENENBERG AMENT & RUBENSTEIN, P.C. 191 N. Wacker Dr. Ste. 1800 Chicago, IL 60606-1615 Gregory M. Nespole , Esq WOLF HALDENSTEIN ADLER FREEMAN & HERZ LLP 270 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10016 Darren J Robbins LERACH COUGHLIN STOIA GELLER RUDMAN & ROBBINS, LLP 655 W. Broadway Ste. 1900 San Diego, CA 92101 Robert M. Roseman SPECTOR ROSEMAN & KODROFF, P.C. 1818 Market St. Ste. 2500 Philadelphia, PA 19103 David A. Rosenfeld LERACH COUGHLIN STOIA GELLER RUDMAN & ROBBINS, LLP 200 Broadhollow Rd. Ste. 406 Melville, NY 11747 Samuel H. Rudman LERACH COUGHLIN STOIA GELLER RUDMAN & ROBBINS, LLP 200 Broadhollow Rd. Ste. 406 Melville, NY 11747 Mark Solomon LERACH COUGHLIN STOIA GELLER RUDMAN & ROBBINS, LLP 655 West Broadway Suite 1900 San Diego, CA 92101 Marc A. Topaz SCHIFFRIN BARROWAY TOPAZ & KESSLER, LLP 280 King of Prussia Road Radnor, PA 19087 Page 5 of 5CM/ECF - U.S. District Court:tnwd 9/8/2008https://ecf.tnwd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/MailList.pl?900591460987994-L_470_0-1 Case 2:03-cv-02216-BBD-gbc Document 433 Filed 09/08/08 Page 11 of 11