As reported in Tim Taylor's prior email, Judge Moskowitz deferred ruling on
the motion to stay pending resolution of the Section 455 issue.  Judge
Moskowitz rejected plaintiffs' argument that defendants should be required
to formally move to recuse, stating that he felt required to resolve the
Section 455 issue before proceeding further.  On the other hand, he did not
accept our argument that judicial economy favors deferral of the 455 issue
to the MDL Panel, stating instead that he needed to resolve the issue, lest
the Panel designate him as the MDL transferee court for cases he could not
accept.

Judge Moskowitz continued the matter to April 12 at 2:30 pm (PST), at which
time the Court will hear oral argument on both the 455 issue and the stay
motion.  In the interim, the parties will brief the 455 issue in accordance
with the following schedule:

 Plaintiff's brief  -  April 2
 Defendants' response - April 10
 Plaintiff's reply -  April 12

As to the stay motion, Judge Moskowitz indicated he would need to review the
issues raised in the remand briefs before deciding the stay motion.  He
stated that, generally speaking, if the remand motions require substantial
effort and raise issues on which reasonable minds could defer, then he is
inclined to grant a stay, given considerations of judicial economy and the
public's interest in consistent rulings.  While Judge Moskowitz was careful
to note he has not decided this issue, many of the defense counsel who
attended the hearing came away with the impression that the Court is
favorably inclined to the stay arguments.

As to the timing of the remand motion, Judge Moskowitz stated that, if he
does not recuse himself and if he does not stay the cases, the remand motion
will be heard "a couple of weeks" after April 17.   Plaintiffs expressed
concern that the remand motion be heard before the MDL rule in May.  Judge
Moskowitz did not commit to any specific schedule, but appeared receptive to
plaintiffs' position on this timing issue.

A transcript has been ordered and should be available on Monday for
circulation.  Several counsel have suggested that we have a group discussion
after we review the transcript to assess our options on the various issues,
including the Section 455 issue.

As such, we have scheduled a conference call for Wednesday, March 28 at 11
am (PST).  The dial in number is 1-800-210-5603 (pass code 5103596#).  I
will circulate an agenda before the call.

Regards.

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