LEGAL02/30518327v1
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR
THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
NORTHERN DIVISION
GAIL BEDSOLE TATUM, as Mother and
Administratrix of the Estate of Melanie
Chambers, a Deceased Minor Child,
Plaintiff,
vs.
PACTIV CORPORATION and
LOUISIANA-PACIFIC CORPORATION,
Defendants.
)
)
)
)
)
) CASE NO. 2:06-cv-83-LES-CSC
) (LEAD CASE)
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)
)
)
LOUISIANA-PACIFIC’S OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFFS’
COUNTER-MOTION AND REQUEST FOR IMMEDIATE HEARING
Defendant Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (“Louisiana-Pacific”) hereby opposes
Plaintiffs’ Counter-Motion and “Request for Immediate Hearing” (dkt. no. 316) as
follows.
1. The Court scheduled a status conference with all parties for Monday,
September 10, 2007 at 2:00 p.m.
2. This status conference was set at Defendants’ request. (See dkt. no. 286).
Given the uncertainty regarding initial trial Plaintiffs created by Plaintiffs’ Motion to
Dismiss Stanley Wallace, Defendants suggested that the Court set a status conference
specifically to finalize the slate of initial trial Plaintiffs so that the parties can proceed
accordingly. Id.
3. The Court’s Order setting a status conference adopted Defendants’
suggestion. (See dkt. no. 295). Louisiana-Pacific therefore understood the purpose of the
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status conference to be consideration of the issues raised by Plaintiffs’ Motion to Dismiss
Stanley Wallace.
4. Louisiana-Pacific requested oral argument on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Partial
Summary Judgment (dkt. no. 248), and related briefing (including Louisiana-Pacific’s
request for sanctions) at a date and time after Monday’s status conference to be
determined by the Court. (See dkt. no. 315). In response, Plaintiffs filed a “counter-
motion” essentially asking the Court to recast, at least in part, the status conference
scheduled at Defendants’ request into a hearing on said summary judgment and sanctions
issues.
5. Given the important issues surrounding Plaintiffs’ proposed dismissal of
Stanley Wallace and its implications for both the initial trial selection process and the
already-running discovery period, Louisiana-Pacific respectfully submits that argument
on the Partial Motion for Summary Judgment should be deferred to a hearing date to be
established by the Court. Louisiana-Pacific further proposes that at Monday’s status
conference, the parties and Court confer and select a mutually-agreeable date for the
hearing to occur in the very near future. Louisiana-Pacific will attend the hearing in
Omaha, Montgomery, or any other location that the Court and Plaintiffs may prefer.
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Respectfully submitted this 7th day of September, 2007.
/s/Bernard Taylor, Sr.
Bernard Taylor, Sr. (admitted pro hac vice)
Douglas S. Arnold (admitted pro hac vice)
Orlyn O. Lockard, III (admitted pro hac vice)
Counsel for Defendant Louisiana-Pacific
Corporation
OF COUNSEL:
ALSTON & BIRD LLP
One Atlantic Center
1201 West Peachtree Street, N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
Tel: (404) 881-7000
Fax: (404) 881-7777
bernard.taylor@alston.com
doug.arnold@alston.com
skip.lockard@alston.com
ADDITIONAL COUNSEL:
Dennis R. Bailey
ASB No. 4845-I71D
R. Austin Huffaker
ASB NO. 3422-F55R
RUSHTON, STAKELY, JOHNSON, & GARRETT, P.A.
184 Commerce Street
Post Office Box 270
Montgomery, AL 36101
Tel: (334) 206-3100
Fax: (334) 262-6277
drb@rsjg.com (Bailey)
rah2@rsjg.com (Huffaker)
Laura Proctor
ASB 1504-R54L
Associate General Counsel
Louisiana-Pacific Corporation
414 Union Street North, Suite 2000
Nashville, Tennessee 37219
Tel: (615) 986-5878
Fax: 1-866-741-5091
laura.proctor@lpcorp.com
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on September 7, 2007, I electronically filed the foregoing
document using the Court’s CM/ECF system, which will send notice of such filing to all
counsel of record.
/s/Orlyn O. Lockard, III
Orlyn O. Lockard, III
Case 2:06-cv-00083-LES-CSC Document 317 Filed 09/07/2007 Page 4 of 4
