Firestone judge places stay on discovery

INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 30)—The judge in charge of 62 consolidated Ford Motor Co.-Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. tire-related lawsuits has placed a stay on discovery in the cases. Judge Sarah Evans Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana stopped all further discovery "until case management plans have been made, unless persuasive, exigent circumstances demand otherwise." Barker issued her order to stop the deposition of John Lampe, Bridgestone/Firestone chairman and CEO, in one of the consolidated lawsuits. Stating that Lampe´s evidence would "overlap substantially if he were deposed substantially in each case," Barker ruled that deposing Lampe piecemeal "threatens to undermine the purpose of multidistrict litigation." Barker was assigned the cases Oct. 24 by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.