Joint Status Report Due April 12 in Massive Section 301 Litigation
The three-judge panel in the Section 301 litigation inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade granted Akin Gump’s March 19 "coordinated proposal" designating the first-filed HMTX Industries-Jasco Products complaint as the sole sample case (see 2103220035), said a procedural order…
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(in Pacer) Wednesday. Judges also stayed the roughly 3,700 other cases and approved seating a 15-member plaintiffs steering committee, also as Akin Gump proposed. The panel ordered the steering committee and DOJ to confer on a joint status report due April 12 that will include a proposed briefing schedule and list “any additional issues requiring early case management intervention,” plus a “joint proposal for addressing any such issues to the extent possible,” it said. If the steering committee and DOJ “are unable to agree on a proposal, the status report should identify the position of each side and the basis for any disagreement,” it said. The two sides also are ordered to “continue their consultations” on the thorny issue of refund relief, said the panel. The joint status report should summarize “any issues regarding relief upon which they agree and identify areas of disagreement, including the basis for such disagreement,” it said. The court won’t issue an “advisory opinion” on the issue of relief but is “clear-eyed regarding its role in managing the extensive number of Section 301 Cases and the challenges and importance of providing timely, effective, and administrable relief should Plaintiffs establish their right to such relief,” it said.