LafargeHolcim Of Switzerland And U.S. Plaintiff Agree To Private Mediation In Libertad Act Lawsuit- Prelude To A Settlement?

WILLIAM H. CLAFLIN ET AL V. LAFARGEHOLCIM LTD; INVERSIONES IBERSUIZAS S.A.; HOLCIM TRADING SA (F/K/A) UNION MARITIMA INTERNACIONAL SA; DE RUITER OUDERLANDE B.V.; LAS PAILAS DE CEMENTO S.A.U.; and UNKNOWN SUBSIDIARY OF THE LAFARGEHOLCIM GROUP [1:20-cv-23787; Southern Florida District]. 

Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP (plaintiff)
Roig Lawyers (plaintiff)
Fields (plaintiff)
Tutan, Rosenberg, Martin & Bellido (defendant)
Wilkie, Farr & Gallagher (defendant)

LINK TO JOINT STIPULATION AND PROPOSED ORDER REGARDING EXTENSION OF TIME TO RESPOND TO THE COMPLAINT

Excerpt (3/23/21): 

“WHEREAS this joint stipulation will promote the efficient and orderly administration of justice; WHEREAS, the Plaintiffs and Defendant LafargeHolcim Ltd have scheduled on April 22, 2021 a mediation before the Hon. Layn R. Phillips of Phillips ADR Enterprises; WHEREFORE, the Plaintiffs and Defendant LafargeHolcim Ltd, through their undersigned counsel, hereby agree, stipulate, and respectfully request that the Court enter an Order as follows: LafargeHolcim Ltd’s response to the Complaint is due on May 21, 2021, subject to any such further extensions as may be agreed upon by the parties or ordered by the Court.”

“Layn R. Phillips, founder of Phillips ADR Enterprises (PADRE), is both a former United States Attorney and a former United States District Judge. Beginning his judicial career in Oklahoma City at age 35 pursuant to an appointment by President Reagan, he presided over more than 140 trials in Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. He also sat by designation on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver, Colorado, where he participated in numerous panel decisions and published opinions.

Before his tenure on the bench, Judge Phillips joined the United States Attorney’s office in Los Angeles in 1980 as an Assistant United States Attorney, serving as a federal prosecutor in the Central District of California for four years. During the Reagan administration, he returned to his home state of Oklahoma, where, at age 31, he was nominated to serve as a United States Attorney. Upon resigning from the federal bench, Judge Phillips joined the law firm of Irell & Manella, in Newport Beach, California, where for 23 years he specialized in complex civil litigation, internal investigations, and alternative dispute resolution.

Judge Phillips subsequently founded Phillips ADR Enterprises (PADRE), an alternative dispute resolution firm which focuses on the mediation of complex disputes. For the last decade, he has presided over cases that have collectively resulted in several billion dollars in settlements annually. Some of his notable settlements include the NFL Concussion Litigation, the Petrobras U.S. Securities Litigation, the Bonneville Power Administration Residential Exchange Litigation, the DOE Rockwell Rocky Flats Nuclear Plant Litigation, the Michigan State University Sexual Abuse Cases, the Merck Vioxx Securities Litigation, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Acquisition Litigation, the High Tech Employees Antitrust Litigation, the Activision Blizzard Stockholder Litigation, the Anthem Data Breach Litigation, the Walmart Consolidated Wage and Hour Litigation, and the Wells Fargo Financial Accounts Securities Litigation. He has also served for several years as the NBA Systems Arbitrator.

For his years of commitment to public service, he was named as one of the 10 Outstanding Young Americans by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce. As a result of his trial work, Judge Phillips was elected into the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has the dual honor of being named by LawDragon Magazine as one of the “Leading Judges in America” and as one of the “Leading Litigation Attorneys in America.” In August 2016, Judge Phillips was named as one of the top seven mediators in the United States of America by Chambers and Partners.

Judge Phillips received both his B.S. and J.D. from the University of Tulsa. He also completed two years of an LLM program at Georgetown University Law Center in the field of antitrust and economic regulation of industry. Judge Phillips has also been inducted into the University of Tulsa Athletic Hall of Fame. He was a four-year letter winner in tennis, serving as the captain of the men’s varsity team and winning the NCAA Missouri Valley Conference Championship at #1 singles. Judge Phillips has a passion for travel and has visited every continent. He currently resides in Laguna Beach, California with his wife, Kathryn. He has three grown children Amanda, Parker and Graham and a granddaughter, Stella Kathryn and a grandson, Owen Layn.”