Order Reassigns 3 Lead Cables Cases to Same District Judge for Judicial ‘Savings’

U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller for Eastern California in Sacramento signed an order Tuesday (docket 2:21-cv-00073) reassigning two related lead cables cases to her and U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremy Peterson. A third case was already assigned to them. All the cases involve AT&T’s motions to compel third parties to comply with its subpoenas for documents involving the testing and analysis of lead cables in Lake Tahoe and elsewhere that it seeks for its defense of the lawsuit brought by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (see 2307200027). The three cases are related within the meaning of Local Rule 123, said the order. “The actions arise out of the same transaction or series of transactions and would therefore entail a substantial duplication of labor if heard by different judges,” it said. The assignment of the cases to the same judge “is likely to effect a substantial savings of judicial effort and is also likely to be convenient for the parties,” it said.