IN RE: Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Company Securities and Antitrust Litigation

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) BEFORE THE JUDICIAL PANEL JUDICIAL aMAL ON
ON MULTIGS	TRICT LEGATO
MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION FILED
APR 25 S74
IX, EF PITTSBURGH	ND LAE BRIE ALLENS) macaw	ss
OPINION AND ORDER
BEFORE ALFRED P. MURRAH, CHAIRMAN, AND JOHN MINOR WISDOM,
EDWARD WEINFELD, EDWIN A. ROBSON, WILLIAM H. BECKER,
JOSEPH S. LORD, III, AND STANLEY A. WEIGEL, JUDGES OF THE PANEL
PER CURIAM
This litigation involves the alleged mismanagement
of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Company by certain
of the company's directors who also served as directors of the
railroad's majority shareholder, the Penn Central Transportation
Company.
Plaintiffs are minority shareholders of the railroad
and they charge that the named directors were unduly subservient
to Penn Central and violated federal securities and antitrust
laws in connection with certain rail car purchases and unsecured
loans executed between the two companies. They are pursuing their
claims on behalf of a class of minority shareholders and deriva-
tively on behalf of the railroad company itself. Plaintiffs move
the Panel for an order transferring all the actions to the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania for coordinated or consolidated pretrial
proceedings pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1407. The majority of

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l/ . .
defendants =’, including the common defendant railroad company,
oppose transfer.
On the basis of the briefs submitted and the hearing
held, we find that these actions involve common questions of fact
and that transfer of these actions to the Eastern District of
Pennsylvania will serve the convenience of the parties and wit-
nesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of the litiga-
tion. 2/
The parties oppose transfer on the ground that these
actions do not involve complex issues of fact and that, in any
Ev The action listed on Schedule A pending in the Northern
District of Ohio originally included the National City Bank
of Cleveland,Ohio, and others as defendants. The Bank
strenuously objected to transfer of that Ohio action citing
an alleged conflict between the purposes of Section 1407
and the venue policy of federal bank statute 12 U.S.C. §94.
The operation of that bank statute, however, in no way
precludes transfer under Section 1407. See In re Great
Western Ranches Litigation, F. Supp. ' n.l
(J.P.M.L., filed January 10, 1974). In any event, since
the Honorable William K. Thomas has dismissed all of
plaintiffs' claims in the Ohio action, except those against
Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, the question of the
propriety of transfer of the claims asserted against the ;
bank is now moot.
2/ In order to expedite the pretrial processing of this
litigation, we filed a brief order on October 11, 1973
transferring these actions to the Eastern District
of Pennsylvania for coordinated or consolidated pretrial
proceedings under 28 U.S.C. §1407. This per curiam opinion
embodies the reasons for our decision.

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event, most of the discovery concerning the common facts has
been completed in the Crowell action in Philadelphia. They also
point out that motions to dismiss are pending in several of the
actions and they urge the Panel to deny transfer pending disposi-
tion of those motions by the transferor courts.
These arguments are not persuasive. The complaints
in these actions raise common questions of fact encompassing
the same transactions and transfer to a single district is
necessary in order to avoid repetition of that discovery already
accomplished in the Philadelphia action and duplication of
anticipated discovery. Furthermore, we think the efficient
administration of all these actions will best be served if
processed through the pretrial stages by a single judge with
control over all aspects of this litigation.
Clearly, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is the
most appropriate transferee forum for this litigation. Practi-
cally all the documents relating to the sale and loan transactions
in issue are located in that district. In addition, a majority
of defendants in this litigation are already before the Phila-
delphia court in the two actions pending there and transfer of
all actions to that district for coordinated or consolidated
pretrial proceedings under Section 1407 will undoubtedly serve
the convenience of those parties and their witnesses. In addi-
tion, Judge James H. Gorbey, who has supervised the discovery
in the Philadelphia actions, has already acquired a thorough
knowledge of the issues involved in this litigation and will be

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able to design a pretrial program which will avoid duplicative
discovery and insure	the expeditious handling of all the actions.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that all actions on Schedule A
pending in districts other than the Eastern District of Pennsyl-
vania be, and the same hereby are, transferred to the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania and, with the consent of that court,
assigned to the Honorable James H. Gorbey for coordinated or
consolidated pretrial proceedings pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1407.

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Case MDL No. 134 Document 3 Filed 05/04/15 Page 6 of 6
, SCHEDULE A - +..." DOCKET NO. 134
" EASTERN DISTRICT	OF PENNSYLVANIA
Mary S. Crowell, et al. v. The Pittsburgh Civil Action
& Lake Erie Railroad Company, et al. No. 72-1408
Edward S. Bristol, et al. v. The Pittsburgh + Civil Action
& Lake Erie Railroad Company, et al. No. 72-2479
"DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
Edward S. Bristol v, The Pittsburgh & Civil Action
Lake Erie Railroad Company, et al. No. 1983-72
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
Edward S. Bristol, et al. v. The Pittsburgh Civil Action
& Lake Erie Railroad Company, et al. No. 15,500
" NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO |
Edward S. Bristol, et al. v. The Pittsburgh Civil Action
& Lake Erie Railroad Company, et al. No. C=72-1367
" EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
Edward S. Bristol, et al. v. The Pittsburgh Civil Action
& Lake Erie Railroad Company, et al. No. 72-C-680
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
Edward S. Bristol, et al. v. The Pittsburgh _ Civil Action
& Lake Erie Railroad Company, et al. No. 72-2003-Civ-NCR
: NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA _
Edward S. Bristol, et. al. v. The Pittsburgh Civil Action
& Lake Erie Railroad Company, et al. No, C=72-~2300-SW
Cl