Joint Status Conference Statement — In re Bank of America California Unemployment Benefits Litigation

Summary

A Joint Status Conference Statement filed March 21, 2025 as Document 441 in In re Bank of America California Unemployment Benefits Litigation, Case No. 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, submitted in advance of the March 28, 2025 Status Conference before Hon. Gonzalo P. Curiel. The statement has sections on Class Notice, an Apex Deposition Briefing Schedule, and an Expert Discovery and Pretrial Motions Schedule. It proposes a briefing schedule on the Bank's Motion for Protective Order, with Defendant's Motion due by April 11, Plaintiffs' Opposition due by April 25 and Defendants' Reply due by May 2, 2025. The parties jointly request that the Court extend the deadline for expert rebuttal reports to April 4, 2025 and the deadline for expert discovery to May 16, 2025.

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JOINT STATUS CONFERENCE STATEMENT
Case No. 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB

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JOSEPH W. COTCHETT (SBN 36324)
jcotchett@cpmlegal.com
BRIAN DANITZ (SBN 247403)
bdanitz@cpmlegal.com
KARIN B. SWOPE (Pro Hac Vice)
kswope@cpmlegal.com
COTCHETT, PITRE & McCARTHY, LLP
840 Malcolm Road, Suite 200
Burlingame, CA 94010
Telephone: (650) 697-6000
Fax: (650) 697-0577

MICHAEL RUBIN (SBN 80618)
mrubin@altber.com
STACEY M. LEYTON (SBN 203827)
sleyton@altber.com
CONNIE K. CHAN (SBN 284230)
cchan@altber.com
ALTSHULER BERZON LLP
177 Post Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94108
Telephone: (415) 421-7151
Fax: (415) 362-8064

Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs and the
Proposed Class
JAMES W. McGARRY (pro hac vice)
JMcGarry@goodwinlaw.com
MICHELLE T. BRIGGS (pro hac vice)
MBriggs@goodwinlaw.com
GOODWIN PROCTER LLP
100 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA 02210
Tel.: +1 617 570 1000
Fax: +1 617 523 1231

SABRINA M. ROSE-SMITH
(pro hac vice)
SRoseSmith@goodwinlaw.com
MATTHEW L. RIFFEE (pro hac vice)
MRiffee@goodwinlaw.com
GOODWIN PROCTER LLP
1900 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel.: +1 202 346 4000
Fax: +1 202 346 4444

Attorneys for Defendant
BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
IN RE BANK OF AMERICA
CALIFORNIA UNEMPLOYMENT
BENEFITS LITIGATION
Case No.: 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB

JOINT STATUS CONFERENCE
STATEMENT

This Document Relates to All Actions
 Date:
March 28, 2025
Time:
1:30 p.m.
Location:
Via Zoom
Judge:
Hon. Gonzalo P. Curiel
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JOINT STATUS CONFERENCE STATEMENT
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The parties in the above-referenced matter, by and through their respective
counsel, having met and conferred, submit this Joint Status Conference Statement in
advance of the March 28, 2025 Status Conference (ECF 423).
I.
Class Notice – Joint Statement

The Parties continue to meet and confer regarding the best form of Class Notice
should it be required.  Plaintiffs believe Class Notice should be sent by e-mail (when
available) as well as by U.S. Mail for all class members, and the Bank is considering
the availability of class members’ email addresses.
BANA believes that discussions regarding potential Class Notice are premature
at this time.  However, in accordance with the Court’s Order (ECF 408), the Parties
have engaged in discussions regarding the solicitation of potential administrators who
may assist in providing class notice should notice be required. The Parties have an
agreement as to how to proceed in soliciting bids for a potential class notice, and have
begun that process.
II.
Apex Deposition Briefing Schedule
On December 23, 2024, Magistrate Judge Berg held an informal discovery
conference (“IDC”) regarding the Bank’s objections to producing for deposition
Chief Executive Officer Brian T. Moynihan and former Chief Operating Officer
Thomas Montag. Judge Berg deferred ruling on the Bank’s request for a protective
order but tentatively ordered Plaintiffs to take the Zoom depositions of six additional
senior and mid-level executives, each limited to two hours, and for the parties then
to return to Judge Berg to discuss the impact of those depositions, if any, on
Plaintiffs’ request to depose Messrs. Moynihan and Montag. The parties met and
conferred and agreed to proceed with depositions of four witnesses, limited to two
hours each over Zoom.
At the February 14, 2025 Status Conference, this Court instructed the parties
to attempt a second IDC after the depositions of the four witnesses were completed
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JOINT STATUS CONFERENCE STATEMENT
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and, if the issue was still unresolved, to address formal briefing on the Bank’s Motion
for Protective Order to this Court.
On March 12, 2025, Magistrate Judge Berg held the second IDC. After
informal briefing and argument, Judge Berg tentatively ruled that Messrs. Moynihan
and Montag possessed unique information that was relevant to the issue of punitive
damages.  Judge Berg proposed to resolve the parties’ dispute by allowing the
requested depositions but limiting the scope to punitive damages issues and the time
to two hours (Moynihan) and one hour (Montag).
Plaintiffs requested formal briefing. Accordingly, the Parties propose the
following briefing schedule on the Bank’s Motion for Protective Order: Defendant’s
Motion due by April 11; Plaintiffs’ Opposition due by April 25; Defendants’ Reply
due by May 2, 2025.
III.
Expert Discovery and Pretrial Motions Schedule
On February 11, 2025, the Court entered its Order Granting Joint Motion To
Extend Time Re: Expert Disclosures And Pretrial Motions (ECF 417; “Order”), setting
the following schedule:
Event
Date
Expert Designation
February 10, 2025
Rebuttal Expert Designation
February 17, 2025
Expert Disclosures
March 4, 2025
Rebuttal Expert Disclosures
March 28, 2025
Expert Discovery Cutoff
April 25, 2025
Pretrial Motions Cutoff
May 28, 2025
Pursuant to the scheduling order, the parties timely served their respective
expert designations, rebuttal expert designations and expert reports.
Subject to the Court’s decision on BANA’s pending Motion to Stay (ECF
415), the parties now jointly request that the Court extend the deadline for expert
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rebuttal reports by one week, to April 4, 2025.
The parties are continuing to meet and confer over deposition scheduling,
and both parties are committed to working together in good faith to schedule the
depositions of their 15 experts on mutually agreeable dates and in a fair and
equitable sequence. To do so, also subject to the Court’s decision on BANA’s
pending motion, the parties jointly request that the Court extend the deadline for
expert discovery by three weeks, to May 16, 2025.

The parties jointly request a commensurate extension of three weeks of all
other existing deadlines.

Dated:  March 21, 2025

COTCHETT, PITRE & McCARTHY, LLP

By:  /s/ Brian Danitz

JOSEPH W. COTCHETT
BRIAN DANITZ
KARIN B. SWOPE
BLAIR V. KITTLE
VASTI S. MONTIEL

Dated:  March 21, 2025
ALTSHULER BERZON LLP

By:  /s/ Michael Rubin

MICHAEL RUBIN
STACEY M. LEYTON
CONNIE K. CHAN
KATHERINE G. BASS
COLIN C. JONES

Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs and the
Proposed Class

Dated:  March 21, 2025

By:   /s/ Matthew L. Riffee

MATTHEW L. RIFFEE (pro hac vice)
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JOINT STATUS CONFERENCE STATEMENT
Case No. 3:21-md-02992-GPC-MSB
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MRiffee@goodwinlaw.com
SABRINA M. ROSE-SMITH
(pro hac vice)
SRoseSmith@goodwinlaw.com
GOODWIN PROCTER LLP
1900 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel.: +1 202 346 4000
Fax: +1 202 346 4444

JAMES McGARRY (pro hac vice)
JMcGarry@goodwinlaw.com
MICHELLE T. BRIGGS (pro hac vice)
MBriggs@goodwinlaw.com
GOODWIN PROCTER LLP
100 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA 02210
Tel.: +1 617 570 1000
Fax: +1 617 523 1231

YVONNE W. CHAN (pro hac vice)
YChan@jonesday.com
JONES DAY
100 High Street
Boston, MA 02210
Tel.: +1 617 960 3939
Fax: +1 617 449 6999

Counsel for Defendant
Bank of America, N.A.

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JOINT STATUS CONFERENCE STATEMENT
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SIGNATURE CERTIFICATION
Pursuant to Section 2(f)(4) of this Court’s Electronic Case Filing
Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual, I, Brian Danitz, hereby certify
that the content of this document is acceptable to all the signatories herein and that
I have obtained counsel’s authorization to affix their electronic signatures to this
document.

/s/ Brian Danitz

BRIAN DANITZ
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