Please Redistribute
April 21, 2005
Mimi Hull, President
ASSOCIATION OF U S WEST RETIREES
Board Members and General members
This update concerns the many securities lawsuits
pending against Qwest. As you know from reading my last
report dated February 8, 2005, there are two primary
groups of securities cases pending - federal court cases and
state court cases. All federal case have been consolidated
into Denver Federal Court and are assigned to Federal Judge
Robert E. Blackburn and Magistrate Judge Craig B.
Shaffer. The state court cases, namely lawsuits by
CalSTRS, the State of Illinois, the State of New Jersey
and Louisiana Teachers, are pending in different state
courts.
Presently, the parties are conducting depositions.
There is a significant discovery dispute that has arisen and
has been briefed and presented to the Court for resolution.
Most of the former Qwest officers sued have asserted as a
defense for their actions "reliance on the advice of legal
counsel." The legal issue is whether that defense waives
the attorney-client privilege and, thus, the shareholders'
counsel should be allowed to inquire into what was said by
the Qwest in-house and outside counsel.
Also, the lead law firm representing shareholder
plaintiffs in the federal securities case filed a request
for class certification ruling. A copy of the March 14,
2005, "Lead Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification" is
attached hereto.
To date, none of the attorneys or litigants have
filed anything in the court file saying anything about the
progress of the ongoing settlement discussions.
Curtis
Curtis L. Kennedy
Attorney-at-law
8405 E. Princeton Ave.
Denver, CO 80237-1741
Tele: 303-770-0440
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