City of Brevard, North Carolina v. HCA Healthcare, Inc. et al

THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
ASHEVILLE DIVISION
CIVIL CASE NO. 1:22-cv-114
THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Parties’ Joint Motion for Entry
of Stipulated Joint Coordination Order [Doc. 84].
WHEREAS, on August 8, 2022, two cases were consolidated as In re
Mission Health Antitrust Litigation (“Federal Action”); and
WHEREAS, there is a case pending in North Carolina Business Court
styled Davis, et al. v. HCA Healthcare, Inc., et al., 21 CVS 3476 (“State
Action”); and
WHEREAS, the Federal Action and State Action involve similar
allegations and the same defendants, such that discovery in the two
proceedings will substantially overlap; and
WHEREAS, the parties wish to coordinate, to the extent practicable,
the Federal and State Actions in order to reduce costs and avoid
)
)
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IN RE MISSION HEALTH ) STIPULATED JOINT
ANTITRUST LITIGATION )
)
COORDINATION ORDER
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)
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unnecessary duplication of effort and to promote the efficient and speedy
resolution of the Federal and State Actions; and
WHEREAS, counsel in the Federal Action have conferred with counsel
in the State Action, who will jointly submit a substantially identical stipulation
for approval in the State Action; and
THEREFORE, it is hereby stipulated and agreed that the following
procedures for discovery and pretrial coordination shall be adopted:
Use of Written Discovery
Requests for documents, interrogatories, and requests for admissions
propounded in the Federal or State Action will be deemed to have been
propounded and served in the other action as if they had been propounded
under the applicable civil rules of the respective jurisdiction. Where possible,
plaintiffs will endeavor to serve joint written discovery requests in accordance
with the limits in the scheduling orders entered in each action. However, the
parties will retain independent rights to propound written discovery where it
is non-duplicative of discovery taken in one case or pertains to case-specific
or class certification-specific issues. All parties reserve the right to seek
good faith numerical limits on discovery through agreement or order of the
Court upon a showing of good cause. The Federal Action’s written discovery
requests will be governed by federal law, including the Federal Rules of Civil
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Procedure and the applicable local rules and orders of the federal court. The
State Action’s written discovery requests will be governed by North Carolina
state law, including the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, the North
Carolina Business Court Rules, and orders of the state court.
Counsel in each action shall serve all discovery and responses
requests on all parties by electronic means.
Defendants shall concurrently produce documents responsive to
discovery requests to counsel in both the Federal and State Actions
Deposition Procedures
Deposition testimony given in the Federal or State Action shall be
usable in both the Federal and State Actions. As a general rule, a witness
may be deposed once within the time limits set forth in this Order. Such
deposition shall be noticed in either the Federal or State Action, and shall be
deemed to be cross-noticed in the other action. A witness may be noticed
once across both actions and, following the deposition, shall not be deposed
in the other action unless otherwise agreed to by the parties or authorized
by an order of the Court upon a showing of good cause by the party seeking
the additional deposition.
Cooperation and scheduling. Counsel for the plaintiffs in the Federal
and State Actions, counsel for the defendants, and counsel for the deponent
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(if applicable) shall cooperate on selecting a mutual convenient date, time,
and location for each deposition.
Content of notice. The deposition notice shall contain the name,
address, and telephone number of an attorney point of contact designated
by the party noticing the deposition, as well as a proposed date, time, and
location of the deposition. After counsel, through consultation, have arrived
on a date and location for a deposition, the noticing party shall serve an
amended notice reflecting the agreed upon date and location. Counsel may
also consult to determine a date and location for a deposition before issuing
an initial notice.
Disputes. In accordance with this protocol, any disputes regarding
deposition matters shall be resolved pursuant to Section 3 of this protocol.
Objections. During depositions, unless otherwise specified, an
objection by single defendant shall be deemed an objection by all
defendants; similarly, an objection by a single plaintiff shall be deemed an
objection by all plaintiffs unless otherwise specified. However, unless
otherwise specified, an instruction not to answer by one defendant shall not
be deemed an instruction not to answer by all defendants, and an instruction
not to answer by one plaintiff shall not be deemed an instruction not to
answer by all plaintiffs. All objections during the depositions shall be made
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in a manner that complies with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(c)(2)
and/or North Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure 30(c), as applicable. The
phrase “objection to form” or similar language shall be sufficient to preserve
all objections to form.
Transcript and time to review transcript. Unless waived by the
deponent, each deposition transcript shall be submitted to the deponent for
correction and signature and shall be corrected and signed within thirty days
after the official transcript of the court reporter is made available to counsel
for the party defending the deposition. Corrections to a deposition shall be
listed on an errata sheet signed by the deponent, and the court reporter shall
serve copies of the errata sheet on all parties purchasing the transcript.
Should the deponent fail to submit corrections within 30 days, the transcript
will be presumed accurate and all parties shall have the right to use the
transcript sent to the deponent as if it were final and signed with no
corrections needed.
Use and admissibility of depositions. This protocol does not cover
the admissibility of any deposition at trial. Such determinations shall be made
in each proceeding. This protocol does not cover procedures for expert
depositions, which the parties will address at a later stage of the
proceedings.
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Discovery Dispute Resolution
Prior to any party in the Federal or State Action filing a discovery
motion, the parties must first attempt to resolve the dispute in good faith and
in accordance with the procedures and requirements outlined in their
respective jurisdiction.
For discovery disputes that involve coordinated discovery, in the event
that the parties are not able to resolve any disputes that may arise, the
parties will present the dispute to the federal court. Through the coordination
prescribed in this paragraph, the parties will not engage in duplicative or
serial motion practice concerning discovery disputes that involve coordinated
discovery across state or federal court, absent good cause shown.
This procedure pertains to disputes arising during the discovery
process only, and nothing contained herein shall constitute or be deemed to
constitute a waiver of any objection of any party to the admissibility at trial,
of any documents, deposition testimony or exhibits, or written discovery
responses provided or obtained in accordance with this Order.
Reservation of Rights
No party waives any jurisdictional rights or obligations with regard to
case management, discovery, trial setting, trial, or case resolution by
agreeing to coordinate with the Federal or State Action.
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IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED, that the Parties’ Joint Motion for
Entry of Stipulated Joint Coordination Order [Doc. 84], is hereby GRANTED.
Nothing herein modifies any limitations or deadlines as set forth in the
Case Management Order previously entered.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Signed: July 1, 2024
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