G1mrgmf. 12 Before: 13 HON. JESSE M. FURMAN, 14 District Judge 17 APPEARANCES

Transcription

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK x IN RE: GENERAL MOTORS LLC 3 IGNITION SWITCH LITIGATION 14 MD 2543 (JMF) x ROBERT SCHEUER, 5 Plaintiff, 6 v. 14 Cv (JMF) 7 GENERAL MOTORS LLC, 8 Jury Trial Defendant x 10 New York, N.Y. January 22, :00 a.m. 12 Before: 13 HON. JESSE M. FURMAN, 14 District Judge APPEARANCES 18 HILLIARD MUNOZ GONZALES LLP 19 Attorneys for Plaintiffs BY: ROBERT C. HILLIARD 20 RUDY GONZALES, JR. ANNE K. FORNECKER 21 ADOLFO MARTINEZ 22 HAGENS BERMAN SOBOL SHAPIRO LLP 23 Attorneys for Plaintiffs BY: STEVE W. BERMAN 24 NICK STYANT-BROWNE SEAN R. MATT 25 ANDREW M. VOLK

2 APPEARANCES CONTINUED 2 3 LIEFF CABRASER HEIMANN & BERNSTEIN LLP Attorneys for Plaintiffs 4 BY: KENNETH BYRD 5 KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP 6 Attorneys for Defendants BY: RICHARD C. GODFREY 7 MIKE BROCK BARRY E. FIELDS 8 ANDREW B. BLOOMER 9 HARTLINE DACUS BARGER DREYER LLP 10 Attorneys for Defendants BY: KYLE H. DREYER 11 WENDY D. MAY PRESCOTT SMITH

3 (Trial resumed; jury not present) 2 THE COURT: Good morning. Welcome back. 3 As you may know, I just so ordered the stipulation of 4 dismissal. Although not technically necessary for it to be 5 effective, that is my practice, just on the belt-and-suspenders 6 approach that Mr. Godfrey prefers. This case is officially 7 dismissed and trial is, obviously, over. 8 I want to say a couple of things before I bring the 9 jury out and advise them that they are excused and no longer 10 need to show up and don't need to wade through the snow on 11 Monday to be here. 12 First, I want to commend counsel. I'm sure it wasn't 13 an easy decision to do what you did this morning. Given how 14 much time and energy went into this trial, many people would 15 not have been able to take a step back and swallow their pride 16 and do what makes sense. So, as disappointing it must be and, frankly, it is disappointing to me, because, as I hope I 18 made clear yesterday, I was enjoying this trial and would have 19 been happy to continue with it -- I really do commend you for 20 doing what I think is the right and sensible thing. 21 More broadly, I want to compliment counsel on both 22 sides for trying an excellent case. Putting aside the 23 developments of the last few days that ultimately derailed 24 things, both sides did a terrific job in zealously representing 25 their clients and proved that your reputations for excellence

4 as trial lawyers are well deserved, in my opinion. 2 Speaking of counsel, I also want to clarify one thing 3 with respect to my remarks yesterday. Reviewing the transcript 4 and reviewing some of the media coverage of the transcript, I 5 think my remarks could have been and to some extent were 6 misinterpreted to suggest criticism of lead counsel's selection 7 of Mr. Scheuer as the first bellwether plaintiff separate and 8 apart from the developments of the last week. 9 I do think that counsel could have and should have 10 done a better job of investigating Mr. Scheuer to avoid the 11 developments of the last week, and I'm guessing, and you don't 12 need to comment on this, that counsel would not disagree with 13 that criticism. But I did not mean to suggest and should not 14 have suggested that this case was a poor choice separate and 15 apart from the developments of the last week. 16 I, quite frankly, don't know enough about the cases 17 that were in the pool of candidates to say. It may very well 18 be that given the many variables involved, this case was a 19 perfectly rational choice to be the first bellwether selection. 20 I do not want to be misunderstood in that respect. 21 All of this is to say, putting aside my view that 22 counsel could have and should have done a better job of 23 investigating Mr. Scheuer's background, I have no criticism of 24 the counsel handling of bellwethers or handling of the MDL as a 25 whole. To the contrary, as hope I have made clear on prior

5 actions, I think counsel has done a remarkable job of leading 2 this incredibly complicated litigation in general and 3 especially given the demanding schedule that I think I have 4 kept in this case. So I could do want to clarify that. 5 No one needs to comment, but if there is anything that 6 you would like to say, you're welcome to say it. Otherwise, I 7 have a few housekeeping matters and then I'll bring the jury 8 out. 9 MR. BROCK: Nothing from GM, your Honor. 10 MR. HILLIARD: Just from the plaintiff's side, thanks 11 to you and your staff. I know that a lot of times your staff 12 is as important as the court. Both their courtesy and efforts 13 in making sure that this case was tried the way it was is not 14 overlooked and is extremely appreciated. 15 THE COURT: I appreciate your appreciation. I 16 certainly appreciate my staff. Suffice it to say I could not 17 have done what I have done without them: Ms. Barnes and Ms. 18 Franklin, who are here, and my other two law clerks, who are 19 upstairs, and Ms. Atkins, my former law clerk, who is here this 20 morning with us as well. 21 Needless to say, a tremendous amount of time and 22 energy went into it. Not all for naught, because I think a lot 23 of what has been done in connection with this case will be 24 helpful with the next five trials that we have coming down the 25 pike. In that regard, I think we can all turn our energies to

6 the second bellwether and make the best of what has happened in 2 the last few weeks and few months. 3 I'm assuming that you all are going to try and run out 4 of New York before the storm and in that regard that you will 5 not be here later today. I know there are a lot of logistical 6 things that need to be taken care of, like getting the car out 7 of the courthouse. And maybe you can put the TV in the car. 8 I'll leave it to you to work with Mr. Lee and the 9 courthouse staff to make arrangements for that. As far as I'm 10 concerned, there is no great rush. I had reserved this 11 courtroom for another few weeks, so no one else is going to be 12 using it next week. But the sooner you can make arrangements 13 to deal with those things, the better. 14 It is also too early, I think, to be discussing with 15 you, and I'm not sure all relevant counsel are here, but at 16 some point soon we should probably begin to talk about the 17 logistics and the like for the second bellwether and begin to 18 turn our attentions to that. 19 Unless there is anything further, I will bring the 20 jury out and let them know they are excused. Just so you know, 21 I will tell them that the case had been resolved without the 22 need for them to deliberate and that they are excused. I also 23 will tell them that I hope that they will stick around for a 24 few minutes for me to personally thank them. That is my 25 general practice even after a verdict.

7 I will also tell them, if both sides are okay with it, 2 that I imagine you may be interested in talking with them, that 3 it is probably no surprise to them that there are other cases 4 in this litigation and in that regard you may be very 5 interested in their feedback with respect to the trial to the 6 extent that they are willing to speak, that that is their 7 decision to make, they are not required to do that, but that 8 they are more than welcome to. 9 What I may do, what it might make sense to do, is I 10 will speak with them afterwards and ask them if they would be 11 willing to and let you know. Given the weather, I don't know 12 if you want to do it immediately. They may be willing to stick 13 around or they may want to get out of here. I'll let you know 14 what the answer is, and we can go from there. Is everybody 15 okay with that? 16 MR. BROCK: Yes, your Honor. Would the idea be that 17 we would just find a quiet corner in the courtroom for those 18 that might be willing to speak, or would it be okay to ask them 19 if they are willing to speak, if we could give them a call? 20 What would be the process. 21 THE COURT: I'm happy to do either of those things. I 22 don't know if you have made arrangements to get out of Dodge, 23 so to speak, already, in which case how much time you all have. 24 I'd be happy to ask them if they would be willing to stick 25 around and speak with counsel now or ask them if they would

8 have any objection to you contacting them. 2 MR. BROCK: I think we definitely would like to 3 contact them. It would be nice to have a few short 4 conversations today, but they may be interested in getting out, 5 as you say, and there will be a lot of activity and it will be 6 hard to find a place. I think we would like to have the option 7 of doing that if the jurors are willing to. 8 THE COURT: Mr. Hilliard? 9 MR. HILLIARD: Judge, no offense, but it's 78 degrees 10 in Corpus this weekend. 11 THE COURT: I am taking great offense to that, I have 12 to say, or I certainly will be tomorrow. 13 MR. HILLIARD: There are others who will stay if the 14 jury permits us to talk with him. The way that I have seen it 15 work is both informal conversations and then perhaps follow-ups 16 if they agree to it because there are some details that we 17 would like to know about as well. We are prepared to have some 18 folks visit. It won't be myself or Mr. Gonzales, and I don't 19 think Mr. Berman, but others are here, and they will be ready 20 to visit with them. 21 THE COURT: Needless to say, please be respectful of 22 all of them and their time and privacy. If they don't want to 23 talk to you, don't pester or harass them. But if they are 24 willing to talk to you, I have no objection to their doing 25 that.

9 Unless there is anything further -- Mr. Godfrey? 2 MR. GODFREY: I wanted to on behalf of General Motors 3 to thank the Court and staff for its courtesies. Mr. Pixton 4 has informed me that it is 53 days until bellwether trial 5 number 2, so we will be talking about logistics. But I think 6 we'll take next week off, if it's okay. 7 THE COURT: Well, I don't know. Maybe I'll enter some 8 orders next week and deprive you of that. 9 I will bring the jury out and let them know the news, 10 and we will go from there. 11 (Jury present) 12 THE COURT: Good morning and welcome back, ladies and 13 gentlemen. I have something to tell you. I don't know if this 14 is going to be a welcome development or disappointing develop- 15 ment, but you are officially excused from your service as 16 jurors. The case has been resolved without the need for 17 further proceedings and for your deliberations. For that 18 reason, you are excused. 19 Let me say a couple of things. First, although your 20 deliberations were not required, I do want to thank you for all 21 of your time and attention. There was a very famous judge in 22 this court named Edward Weinfeld whose practice was not to 23 thank jurors on the theory that it was your civic duty as a 24 citizen of this country to serve on jury duty and for that 25 reason the jurors didn't deserve thanks. Although I respect

10 Judge Weinfeld in many, many ways, I differ from him in that 2 regard and I do think that jurors deserve our thanks. 3 On behalf of the parties and the Court, I really do 4 want to thank you. It has been quite obvious how attentive you 5 have been throughout these proceedings. Again, although you 6 ultimately don't have to deliberate or render a verdict, your 7 service has been an incredibly important and incredibly 8 valuable and incredibly important part of this process. 9 If you are willing to stick around for a few minutes, 10 I would love an opportunity to thank you more personally and 11 also ask you if there are any ways that we could improve the 12 process of jury service, something that I'm always interested 13 in. I would love your feedback on the schedule and process 14 generally. 15 I also think it is most likely that the lawyers would 16 love an opportunity to speak with you and get your feedback. I 17 think it probably doesn't come as any surprise to you that 18 there are other cases that are likely to be tried in this 19 litigation, that this is not the only case before me involving 20 the so-called ignition switch. In that regard, I think it 21 would be incredibly valuable to them if you were willing to 22 speak with them and give them some of your thoughts and 23 feedback with respect to the trial and their conduct, and so 24 forth. 25 I want to be clear: You are not required to speak

11 with them. As far as I'm concerned, you are excused from your 2 jury service and you have no further obligations to me or to 3 counsel. On the other hand, if you are willing to speak with 4 them, and I have instructed them that they have to respect your 5 views on that and not harass any of you, I think they would 6 love to hear from you and would love your feedback. 7 What I think I'll do is, again, if you are willing to 8 stick around, come and thank you personally. At that time, if 9 you are willing to speak with them, you can let me know. 10 Because of the weather that is looming in the area, in light of 11 the development that I just reported to you, counsel is not 12 going to be sticking around for too long. What might make more 13 sense is for me to find out from you if you would be willing to 14 be contacted, and if so, what the best way to do that would be, 15 and then I can communicate that to counsel if that makes sense. 16 With that, you are officially excused, which means 17 that you can now discuss the case with anyone you like. You 18 can also read anything you want about the case or do any 19 research you want about the case. You are excused. I'll come 20 back in a minute or two if you are willing to stick around and 21 speak with me. Thank you very much. 22 (Jury excused) 23 THE COURT: Anything to discuss aside from Corpus 24 Christi? Mr. Brock? 25 MR. BROCK: The more I observe what's going on in the

12 space confinements, the more I like the idea of seeing who 2 would be willing to be contacted maybe as the primary way of 3 interaction. I understand we might have some conversations 4 here, but to the extent that that can be offered as an option, 5 it would be great. 6 THE COURT: As my remarks more or less made clear, I 7 decided that was the better approach than trying to do it here. 8 Number one, some of you are leaving. Number two, other people 9 who are present, that was more respectful of their time and 10 privacy. I will get a list of those who are willing to speak 11 with you and the best way to contact them, and then we will 12 communicate that to you. 13 With that, I wish you all pleasant and safe journeys. 14 If you are sticking around, good luck with the weather and good 15 luck with the nicer weather you will have. I will see you 16 shortly. Enjoy your rest. We are adjourned. Thank you. 17 (Trial concluded)

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