40.22 Responsibilities of Designated Counsel
It is ORDERED:
1.	Plaintiffs’ Lead Counsel. Plaintiffs’ lead counsel1 shall be generally responsible for coordinating the activities of plaintiffs during pretrial proceedings and shall
(a)	determine (after such consultation with other members of Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and other cocounsel as may be appropriate) and present (in briefs, oral argument, or such other fashion as may be appropriate, personally or by a designee) to the court and opposing parties the position of the plaintiffs on all matters arising during pretrial proceedings;
(b)	coordinate the initiation and conduct of discovery on behalf of plaintiffs consistent with the requirements of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1), 26(2), and 26(g), including the preparation of joint interrogatories and requests for production of documents and the examination of witnesses in depositions;
(c)	conduct settlement negotiations on behalf of plaintiffs, but not enter binding agreements except to the extent expressly authorized;
(d)	delegate specific tasks to other counsel or committees of counsel,2 as authorized by the court, in a manner to ensure that pretrial preparation for the plaintiffs is conducted efficiently and effectively; 
(e)	enter into stipulations with opposing counsel as necessary for the conduct of the litigation;
(f)	prepare and distribute periodic status reports to the parties;
(g)	maintain adequate time and disbursement records covering services as lead counsel;
(h)	monitor the activities of cocounsel to ensure that schedules are met and unnecessary expenditures of time and funds are avoided; and
(i)	perform such other duties as may be incidental to proper coordination of plaintiffs’ pretrial activities or authorized by further order of the court.
	Counsel for plaintiffs who disagree with lead counsel (or those acting on behalf of lead counsel) or who have individual or divergent positions may present written and oral arguments, conduct examinations of deponents, and otherwise act separately on behalf of their clients as appropriate, provided that in doing so they do not repeat arguments, questions, or actions of lead counsel.
2.	Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel. Plaintiffs’ liaison counsel shall
(a)	maintain and distribute to cocounsel and to defendants’ liaison counsel an up-to-date service list;
(b)	receive and, as appropriate, distribute to cocounsel orders from the court [and documents from opposing parties and counsel];
(c)	maintain and make available to cocounsel at reasonable hours a complete ﬁle of all documents served by or upon each party [except such documents as may be available at a document depository]; and
(d)	establish and maintain a document depository [see section 40.261].
3.	Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee. The other members of plaintiffs’ steering committee shall from time to time consult with plaintiffs’ lead and liaison counsel in coordinating the plaintiffs’ pretrial activities and in planning for trial.
4.	Defendants’ Liaison Counsel. Defendants’ liaison counsel shall
(a)	maintain and distribute to cocounsel and to plaintiffs’ liaison counsel an up-to-date service list;
(b)	receive and, as appropriate, distribute to cocounsel orders from the court [and documents from opposing parties and counsel]; 
(c)	maintain and make available to cocounsel at reasonable hours a complete ﬁle of all documents served by or upon each party [except such documents as may be available at a document depository];
(d)	establish and maintain a document depository [see section 40.261]; and
(e)	call meetings of cocounsel for the purpose of coordinating discovery, presentations at pretrial conferences, and other pretrial activities.
5.	Privileges Preserved. No communication among plaintiffs’ counsel or among defendants’ counsel shall be taken as a waiver of any privilege or protection to which they would otherwise be entitled.

Dated: 												
									United States District Judge

Notes:
	1.	In litigation involving different types of claims, such as economic injury and personal injury claims, the court and counsel may wish to create parallel structures for the cases.
	2.	In litigation involving cases in state and federal courts, the court and counsel should consider appointing a state–federal liaison committee to coordinate pretrial and trial activity, particularly discovery.