In re: Polyurethane Foam Antitrust Litigation

Memorandum of Law in support of certain defendants' response to and request for stay of direct and indirect purchasers' motions for preliminary approval of settlement

N.D. OhioMarch 21, 2012

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO WESTERN DIVISION __________________________________________ ) In re POLYURETHANE FOAM ANTITRUST ) LITIGATION ) __________________________________________) MDL Docket No. 2196 This document relates to: ) ) All Direct and Indirect Purchaser Class Cases ) Index No. 10MD2196(JZ) __________________________________________) MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF CERTAIN DEFENDANTS’ RESPONSE TO AND REQUEST FOR STAY OF DIRECT AND INDIRECT PURCHASERS’ MOTIONS FOR PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT Direct and Indirect Purchaser Class Plaintiffs have moved for voluntary dismissals of their claims against, and preliminary approval of settlement agreements with, Defendants Domfoam International Inc., Valle Foam Industries (1995) Inc., A-Z Sponge & Foam Products Ltd., and certain individual settling parties. See ECF Nos. 343–44. Defendants1 object to and oppose Plaintiffs’ motions for the reasons previously stated in the November 14, 2011 Memorandum of Law in Support of Certain Defendants’ Response and Request for Stay of Direct Purchasers’ Motion for Preliminary Approval of Settlement, ECF No. 301, and respectfully urge the Court to defer consideration of any proposed settlement classes, including sending notice to “potential class members,” until such time as it addresses the adversarial litigation class issues pursuant to the timetable proposed in the recently filed Stipulation and Proposed Joint Scheduling Order, ECF No. 345. 1 Defendants Carpenter Co., E.R. Carpenter, L.P., Carpenter Holdings, Inc., Hickory Springs Manufacturing Company, Future Foam, Inc., Leggett & Platt, Incorporated, Otto Bock Polyurethane Technologies, Inc., Flexible Foam Products, Inc., Foamex Innovations, Inc., Mohawk Industries, Inc., Woodbridge Foam Corporation, Woodbridge Sales & Engineering, Inc., and Woodbridge Foam Fabricating, Inc. join this Response and Request for Stay. Case: 1:10-md-02196-JZ Doc #: 352 Filed: 03/21/12 1 of 6. PageID #: 5684 2 Defendants further note that the language in paragraph 11 of both Settlement Agreements prohibits Plaintiffs from disclosing any information obtained from Voluntary Dismissal Defendants and Individual Settling Parties (as those terms are defined in the Settlement Agreements) to Defendants “unless compelled to do so by an Order of the Court or as otherwise required by law or the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.” ECF Nos. 343-2 at 23 & 344-2 at 23. In the Court’s February 10, 2012 conference with the parties, Defendants understood the Court to order Plaintiffs to produce all such materials to Defendants or to the Court for in camera review with notice to Defendants. If Defendants have misunderstood the Court’s order, Defendants respectfully ask the Court to issue an Order to ensure that all materials obtained by Plaintiffs from the Voluntary Dismissal Defendants and Individual Settling Parties are promptly produced to Defendants or to the Court for in camera review with notice to the Defendants. Case: 1:10-md-02196-JZ Doc #: 352 Filed: 03/21/12 2 of 6. PageID #: 5685 3 Dated: March 21, 2012 Respectfully submitted, /s/ James H. Walsh James H. Walsh Howard Feller Bethany Lukitsch MCGUIREWOODS LLP One James Center 901 East Cary Street Richmond, VA 23219-4030 Phone: (804) 775-4356 Fax: (804) 698-2200 jwalsh@mcguirewoods.com hfeller@mcguirewoods.com blukitsch@mcguirewoods.com Counsel for Carpenter Co., E.R. Carpenter, L.P., and Carpenter Holdings, Inc. /s/ Kendall Millard Kendall Millard BARNES & THORNBURG, LLP 11 South Meridian Street Indianapolis, IN 46204-3535 Phone: (317) 231-7461 Fax: (317) 231-7433 kmillard@btlaw.com /s/ Michael D. Mustard Michael D. Mustard BARNES & THORNBURG LLP 600 One Summit Square Fort Wayne, IN 46802-3119 Phone: (260) 423-9440 Fax: (260) 424-8316 mmustard@btlaw.com Counsel for Flexible Foam Products, Inc. /s/ Frank A. Hirsch, Jr. Frank A. Hirsch, Jr. Matthew P. McGuire ALSTON & BIRD LLP 4721 Emperor Blvd. Suite 400 Durham, NC 27703 Phone: (919) 862-2200 Fax: (919) 852-2260 frank.hirsch@alston.com matt.mcguire@alston.com Counsel for Hickory Springs Manufacturing Company /s/ Edward G. Warin Edward G. Warin John P. Passarelli KUTAK ROCK LLP 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, NE 68102 Phone: (402) 346-6000 Fax: (402) 346-1148 edward.warin@kutakrock.com john.passarelli@kutakrock.com Counsel for Future Foam, Inc. Case: 1:10-md-02196-JZ Doc #: 352 Filed: 03/21/12 3 of 6. PageID #: 5686 4 /s/ Francis P. Newell Francis P. Newell Peter M. Ryan COZEN O’CONNOR 1900 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 Phone: (215) 665-2118 Fax: (215) 665-2013 fnewell@cozen.com pryan@cozen.com Counsel for Foamex Innovations, Inc. /s/ Daniel R. Warncke Daniel R. Warncke TAFT STETTINIUS & HOLLISTER LLP 425 Walnut Street, Suite 1800 Cincinnati, OH 45202-3957 Phone: (513) 381-2838 Fax: (513) 381-0205 warncke@taftlaw.com Joe Rebein SHOOK, HARDY & BACON LLP 2555 Grand Blvd. Kansas City, MO 64108 Phone: (816) 559-2227 jrebein@shb.com Counsel for Leggett & Platt, Incorporated /s/ Randall L. Allen Randall L. Allen Teresa T. Bonder Allison S. Thompson ALSTON & BIRD LLP One Atlantic Center 1201 W. Peachtree St. Atlanta, GA 30309 Phone: (404) 881-7000 Fax: (404) 881-7777 randall.allen@alston.com teresea.bonder@alston.com allison.thompson@alston.com Counsel for Mohawk Industries, Inc. /s/ Richard A. Duncan Richard A. Duncan Emily E. Chow FAEGRE & BENSON LLP 2200 Wells Fargo Center 90 South Seventh St. Minneapolis, MN 55402-3901 Phone: (612) 766-7000 Fax: (612) 766-1600 rduncan@faegre.com Robert A. Bunda Theresa R. DeWitt BUNDA STUTZ & DEWITT PLL 3295 Levis Commons Boulevard Perrysburg, OH 43551 Phone: (419) 241-2777 Fax: (419) 241-4697 rabunda@bsd-law.com trdewitt@bsd-law.com Counsel for Otto Bock Polyurethane Technologies, Inc. Case: 1:10-md-02196-JZ Doc #: 352 Filed: 03/21/12 4 of 6. PageID #: 5687 5 /s/ Daniel G. Swanson Daniel G. Swanson GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP 333 South Grand Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90071 Phone: (213) 229-6690 Fax: (213) 229-6919 dswanson@gibsondunn.com Cynthia Richman GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP 1050 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20036-5306 Phone: (202) 530-8500 Fax: (202) 530-9651 crichman@gibsondunn.com Counsel for Woodbridge Foam Corporation, Woodbridge Sales & Engineering, Inc., and Woodbridge Foam Fabricating, Inc. Case: 1:10-md-02196-JZ Doc #: 352 Filed: 03/21/12 5 of 6. PageID #: 5688 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on March 21, 2012, a copy of the foregoing was filed electronically. Notice of this filing will be sent by operation of the Court’s electronic filing system to all parties indicated on the electronic filing receipt. Parties may access this filing through the Court’s system. /s/ Bethany G. Lukitsch Bethany G. Lukitsch MCGUIREWOODS LLP One James Center 901 East Cary Street Richmond, VA 23219-4030 Phone: (804) 775-4711 Fax: (804) 698-2261 blukitsch@mcguirewoods.com Case: 1:10-md-02196-JZ Doc #: 352 Filed: 03/21/12 6 of 6. PageID #: 5689