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  • BBSR, LLC v. ANHEUSER-BUSCH, LLCC90 - Contracts - All other document preview
  • BBSR, LLC v. ANHEUSER-BUSCH, LLCC90 - Contracts - All other document preview
  • BBSR, LLC v. ANHEUSER-BUSCH, LLCC90 - Contracts - All other document preview
  • BBSR, LLC v. ANHEUSER-BUSCH, LLCC90 - Contracts - All other document preview
  • BBSR, LLC v. ANHEUSER-BUSCH, LLCC90 - Contracts - All other document preview
  • BBSR, LLC v. ANHEUSER-BUSCH, LLCC90 - Contracts - All other document preview
  • BBSR, LLC v. ANHEUSER-BUSCH, LLCC90 - Contracts - All other document preview
  • BBSR, LLC v. ANHEUSER-BUSCH, LLCC90 - Contracts - All other document preview
						
                                

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DOCKET NO.: X03 HHD CV 226166055 S BBSR, LLC, SUPERIOR COURT Plaintiff, COMPLEX LITIGATION DOCKET v. AT HARTFORD ANHEUSER-BUSCH, LLC, Defendant. AFFIDAVIT OF JORDANA L. HAVIV I, JORDANA L. HAVIV, duly sworn, do hereby depose and say as follows: 1. I am a partner of the law firm Freedman Normand Friedland LLP, counsel for Plaintiff BBSR, LLC. I am fully familiar with the facts and circumstances set forth herein, and I make this affidavit in support of BBSR’s Motion to Compel the Production of Documents and Response to Interrogatory No. 19 based on my knowledge of the events herein. 2. The parties met and conferred on April 1, 2024, to discuss open discovery items, including search terms for Anheuser-Busch’s documents. During this meeting, BBSR reiterated its request for hit counts in light of Anheuser-Busch’s refusal to confirm that its purported sampling was representative of the full data set. Anheuser-Busch agreed to revert with an answer by the end of the week. 3. Attached hereto are true and correct copies of the following: Ex. Document A Email from J. Haviv re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch - X03 HHD-CV22-6166055-S, dated December 23, 2023. B Email from S. Mann re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch, attaching counter proposals, dated January 26, 2024. C Email from J. Haviv re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch, dated February 2, 2024. D Letter from G. Langsdale re: BBSR, LLC v. Anheuser-Busch, LLC No. X03-HHD- CV-226166055 S (Conn. Super. Ct.), attaching Anheuser-Busch Search Terms Hit Report, dated February 2, 2024. E Email from K. Friel re: BBSR v. AB Meet and Confer, dated February 22, 2024. F Email from G. Langsdale re: BBSR v. AB rolling productions, dated March 12, 2024. G Email from K. Friel re: BBSR v. AB rolling productions, dated March 26, 2024. H Email from G. Langsdale re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch, dated April 15, 2024. I Plaintiff's First Set of Interrogatories, dated June 15, 2023202. J Anheuser-Busch Responses and Objections to Plaintiff’s First Set of Interrogatories, dated August 14, 2023. K Letter from A. Friedland re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch - X03 HHD-CV22-6166055-S, dated January 26, 2024. L Letter from G. Langsdale re: BBSR, LLC v. Anheuser-Busch, LLC No. X03-HHD-CV-226166055 S (Conn. Super. Ct.), dated February 16, 2024. M Letter from A. Friedland re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch - X03 HHD-CV22-6166055-S, dated February 29, 2024. N Letter from G. Langsdale re: BBSR, LLC v. Anheuser-Busch, LLC No. X03-HHD-CV-226166055 S (Conn. Super. Ct.), dated March 21, 2024. O Plaintiff’s Responses and Objections to Defendant Anheuser-Busch’s First Set of Re- quest for the Production of Documents, dated October 30, 2023. Date: April 19, 2024 Jordana L. Haviv 2 EXHIBIT A Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch - X03 HHD-CV22-6166055-S Date: Saturday, December 23, 2023 at 8:02:40 PM Eastern Standard Time From: Jordana Haviv To: Katie Friel , Langsdale, Greg , Amos Friedland CC: Wallach, Brian , Mann, Samuel , Baldwin, Mark , Boccamazzo, Anthony J. , Ted Normand , Richard Cipolla , bquarmby@mololamken.com , Matthew Penfield Attachments: 2023.12.23 Proposed AB Search Terms & Custodians.docx Following up on search terms, a4ached please find our preliminary proposal for AB’s documents, which is s Date: Wednesday, December 20, 2023 at 4:20 PM To: Langsdale, Greg , Amos Friedland Cc: Jordana Haviv , Wallach, Brian , Mann, Samuel , Baldwin, Mark , Boccamazzo, Anthony J. , Ted Normand , Richard Cipolla , bquarmby@mololamken.com , Matthew Penfield Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch - X03 HHD-CV22-6166055-S All, please see the a4ached correspondence. Best, Ka Date: Wednesday, December 13, 2023 at 12:19 PM To: Langsdale, Greg , Amos Friedland Cc: Jordana Haviv , Wallach, Brian , Mann, Samuel , Baldwin, Mark , Boccamazzo, Anthony J. , Ted Normand , Richard Cipolla , bquarmby@mololamken.com , Ma4hew Penfield Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch - X03 HHD-CV22-6166055-S All, please see a4ached correspondence. Best, Ka Date: Friday, December 8, 2023 at 9:08 PM To: Amos Friedland Cc: Jordana Haviv , Wallach, Brian , Mann, Samuel , Baldwin, Mark , Boccamazzo, Anthony J. , Ted Normand , Richard Cipolla , Ka, bquarmby@mololamken.com , Ma4hew Penfield Subject: RE: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch - X03 HHD-CV22-6166055-S [EXTERNAL SENDER] Counsel, Please see the a4ached correspondence. Best regards, Greg Greg Langsdale Partner Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taj LLP 700 Sixth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001 Office: +1 (202) 862-2267 | Mobile: +1 (703) 851-6508 Greg.Langsdale@cwt.com | www.cadwalader.com He/Him/His From: Jordana Haviv Sent: Monday, December 4, 2023 4:19 PM 2 of 3 To: Wallach, Brian ; Langsdale, Greg ; Baldwin, Mark ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Mann, Samuel Cc: Amos Friedland ; Ted Normand ; Richard Cipolla ; Ka; bquarmby@mololamken.com Subject: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch - X03 HHD-CV22-6166055-S Cau Sent: Friday, January 26, 2024 4:00 PM To: Langsdale, Greg ; Amos Friedland ; Mann, Samuel ; Jordana Haviv ; Ted Normand ; bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Richard Cipolla Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch Cau$on: This email originated from outside of CWT. Do not click links or open a;achments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Counsel, please see a;ached correspondence. 1 of 6 Thanks, Ka$e From: Ka$e Friel Date: Friday, January 19, 2024 at 4:51 PM To: Langsdale, Greg , Amos Friedland , Mann, Samuel , Jordana Haviv , Ted Normand , bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian , Boccamazzo, Anthony J. , Richard Cipolla Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch Greg - glad to hear everything is ok. 2:00 pm on Monday works for us. Get Outlook for iOS From: Langsdale, Greg Sent: Friday, January 19, 2024 2:37:08 PM To: Amos Friedland ; Mann, Samuel ; Ka$e Friel ; Jordana Haviv ; Ted Normand ; bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Richard Cipolla Subject: RE: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch [EXTERNAL SENDER] Thank you for your understanding, all is well here now. Are you available to reconvene on Monday? We could do 11:30 or 2 pm if either of those $mes work for you. Regards, Greg From: Amos Friedland Sent: Friday, January 19, 2024 3:02 PM To: Langsdale, Greg ; Mann, Samuel ; Ka$e Friel ; Jordana Haviv ; Ted Normand ; bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Richard Cipolla Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch Cau$on: This email originated from outside of CWT. Do not click links or open a;achments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. 2 of 6 Ok let us know - we are dialed in. Amos Friedland Partner Freedman Normand Friedland LLP 99 Park Avenue, Suite 1910 New York, New York 10016 (t) (646) 970-7519 (f) (646) 392-8842 (m) (203) 809-1953 From: Langsdale, Greg Sent: Friday, January 19, 2024 2:59:07 PM To: Mann, Samuel ; Ka$e Friel ; Amos Friedland ; Jordana Haviv ; Ted Normand ; bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Richard Cipolla Subject: RE: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch [EXTERNAL SENDER] Amos and team: I apologize for sending this moments before we are set to begin but we have an urgent family issue I need to a;end to right now rela$ng to one of my kids. I will reach back out if this is resolved quickly but we may need to move to next week. Again, apologies. Greg From: Mann, Samuel Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2024 8:45 PM To: Ka$e Friel ; Langsdale, Greg ; Amos Friedland ; Jordana Haviv ; Ted Normand ; bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Richard Cipolla Subject: RE: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch Yes, we will be prepared to discuss search terms. From: Ka$e Friel Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2024 4:19 PM To: Mann, Samuel ; Langsdale, Greg ; Amos 3 of 6 Friedland ; Jordana Haviv ; Ted Normand ; bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Richard Cipolla Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch Cau$on: This email originated from outside of CWT. Do not click links or open a;achments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Thanks Sam, could you confirm you'll be prepared to discuss search terms tomorrow? From: Mann, Samuel Date: Thursday, January 18, 2024 at 12:39 PM To: Ka$e Friel , Langsdale, Greg , Amos Friedland , Jordana Haviv , Ted Normand , bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian , Boccamazzo, Anthony J. , Richard Cipolla Subject: RE: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch [EXTERNAL SENDER] Ka$e, We are available at 3pm tomorrow to meet and confer. I will send out a dial-in shortly. Sam From: Ka$e Friel Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2024 8:06 PM To: Langsdale, Greg ; Amos Friedland ; Jordana Haviv ; Ted Normand ; bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian ; Mann, Samuel ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Richard Cipolla Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch Cau$on: This email originated from outside of CWT. Do not click links or open a;achments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Greg, Please see a;ached correspondence and BBSR’s amended responses and objec$ons to AB’s first set of interrogatories. 4 of 6 We are available at 3pm on Friday to meet and confer. Please let us know if that works for you. Thanks, Ka$e From: Langsdale, Greg Date: Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at 12:05 PM To: Amos Friedland , Jordana Haviv , Ted Normand , Ka$e Friel , bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian , Mann, Samuel , Boccamazzo, Anthony J. Subject: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch [EXTERNAL SENDER] Counsel, We can be available this Friday anernoon to con$nue our meet and confer. If that does not work for you, we can also be available Monday at 2 or 4. I expect we will send you a proposed Protec$ve Order later today or tomorrow. Regards, Greg Greg Langsdale Partner Cadwalader, Wickersham & Tan LLP 1919 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20006 Office: +1 (202) 862-2267 | Mobile: +1 (703) 851-6508 Greg.Langsdale@cwt.com | www.cadwalader.com NOTE: The informa$on in this email is confiden$al and may be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not read, use or disseminate the informa$on; please advise the sender immediately by reply email and delete this message and any a;achments without retaining a copy. Although this email and any a;achments are believed to be free of any virus or other defect that may affect any computer system into which it is received and opened, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that it is virus free and no responsibility is accepted by Cadwalader, Wickersham & Tan LLP for any loss or damage arising in any way from its use. NOTICE: The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) 5 of 6 named above. This message may be an attorney-client communication and/or work product and as such is privileged and confidential. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error and that any review, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail, and delete the original message. NOTICE: The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) named above. This message may be an attorney-client communication and/or work product and as such is privileged and confidential. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error and that any review, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail, and delete the original message. NOTICE: The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) named above. This message may be an attorney-client communication and/or work product and as such is privileged and confidential. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error and that any review, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail, and delete the original message. NOTICE: The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) named above. This message may be an attorney-client communication and/or work product and as such is privileged and confidential. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error and that any review, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail, and delete the original message. 6 of 6 Proposed Anheuser-Busch Custodians: - Felipe Szpigel, President of Anheuser-Busch’s “High End” business unit responsible for management oversight over Boathouse - Carrie Shafir, Marketing Director at Anheuser-Busch - Deleted: Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Anheuser-Busch - Chelsea Phillips, VP Marketing of Beyond Beer Group at Anheuser-Busch - Matthew Gilbertson, VP of M&A and Treasury at Anheuser-Busch - Randy Ornstein, VP Sales of Beyond Beer Group at Anheuser-Busch - Jake Kirsch, VP Innovation of Beyond Beer Group at Anheuser-Busch - Thomas Larson, In-House Lawyer at Anheuser-Busch at Anheuser-Busch (with regard to external communications and communications involving Nick Shields only) - Michael Taylor, VP of M&A at Anheuser-Busch - Peter McGraw, Director of M&A at Anheuser-Busch - Marcel Marcondes, CMO at Anheuser-Busch - Tahseen Butt - Deleted: Janet Delatte - Katie Coco, Director of Marketing at Anheuser-Busch Proposed Search Terms: Date Range: January 1, 2016 to March 21, 2022 Anheuser-Busch: 1. BBSR OR Boathouse 2. Spiked! /10 ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”) Deleted: AND 3. Bullish AND (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”) 4. Spiked! /10 “beyond beer” Deleted: AND 5. (“double mermaid” OR trident) AND ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) Commented [MS1]: Clarifying syntax 6. (Releas! OR re-releas! OR rerelease! OR OR relaunch OR re-launch OR rollout OR Deleted: launch! introdu! OR reintroduce! OR re-introduc! OR transition!) /5 spiked! Deleted: AND 7. (new /2 (packaging OR brand OR logo OR formula OR recipe OR name) OR “changed formula” OR reformulate!)) AND ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”) Commented [MS2]: Clarifying syntax 8. (boathouse OR spiked!) AND (“equity purchase agreement” OR epa OR “letter of intent” OR loi OR earnout OR “2.10”) 9. (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) AND (“competitive product” OR “company product”) 10. “Competitive product volume” 11. “competitive product” AND “Seller representative” 12. (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) AND (can OR label OR mermaid) AND design 13. Deleted: (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) AND (market! OR advertis! OR promot! OR brand! OR logo) o (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) /5 (market! OR advertis! OR promot!) o (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) /10 (brand! OR logo) 14. (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) AND (conceal! OR manipul! OR hide OR fake OR mask OR obscure OR disguise!) 15. (Spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) /10 (generic OR ownable OR replac!) Deleted: AND 16. “super bowl” AND (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) 17. “water street” 18. spiked! AND “parent” 19. Deleted: (((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”) OR spiked!) AND (customer OR review OR feedback OR complaint OR o “#wearethesixpercent” “social media” OR twitter OR facebook OR Instagram OR tiktok or “#wearethesixpercent”) o ((customer or consumer) /5 (feedback or review)) AND (summary or compilation or survey) AND (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) 20. (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) AND (mark OR trademark OR wordmark) AND (registration OR “register! OR assign! OR transfer! OR apply! OR applica!) Commented [MS3]: We think there may be a syntax issue; we are willing to accept the term as edited. If the 21. struck ‘OR’ was intended to be an or, we cannot accept the term. o (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) /5 (budget OR resources) Deleted: OR Deleted: ((spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) AND o (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) AND (volume OR sales) – for (volume OR sales OR distribut! OR budget) custodians Gilbertson, Taylor, McGraw, Butt, Szpigel only o (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) /10 (distribut! /5 (nation! or region!)) 22. ( Deleted: (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) AND (shields OR holmes) AND “press” 23. Deleted: ((spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) AND “ABV” OR formula OR “alcohol content” 24. “project siren” 25. Deleted: spiked! AND inventory 26. “current product” OR “spiked!” /20 (“phase out” OR “manage down” OR discontin! Deleted: AND OR legacy OR sunset!) 27. “spikedseltzer90” 28. Deleted: “hard seltzer” OR “alcohol! seltzer” OR “spiked seltzer” 29. (spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) AND “natural light” 30. ( Deleted: “North American Breweries” OR “Blue City Brewery” 31. Deleted: “Baldwinsville Brewery” AND (spiked! OR OR “B&V”)) 32. Deleted: Shields 33. Deleted: Holmes 34. Timmerman /2 (Andrew or Drew or Andy) 35. Demong 36. Christophides 37. “O’Halloran” /2 Chris! 38. Jurgensen 39. Ghriskey 40. Centre /2 Justin 41. Lobo /2 Sean 42. Kirt /2 Jeff! 43. Cutler /2 Eliot 44. Jellinek /2 Pete! 45. Hokin 46. Shergalis 47. (Diego /2 Reyes) OR “SR Bubbly” 48. Zemnitsky OR “ANZ Capital” 49. Nusbaum OR “Jaylar Capital” Proposed BBSR Custodians: - Nicholas Shields - David Holmes - Harriet Shields - Andrew Timmerman - Brad Demong - Leander Christophides - Christine O’Halloran - Paul Jurgensen - Benjamin Ghriskey - Sue Holmes - Justin Centre - Sean Lobo - Jeffrey Kirt - Eliot Cutler - Peter Jellinek - Justin Hokin - Edward Shergalis - Diego Reyes, Manager of SR Bubbly LLC - Andrew Zemnitsky, Managing Member of ANZ Capital LLC - Jeff Nusbaum, Managing Member of Jaylar Capital LLC - Sal Comunale - Wendy Stapleton - Walker Stapleton - Rick Seiders Proposed Search Terms: Date Range: January 1, 2016 to March 21, 2022 BBSR: 1. (“equity purchase agreement” OR epa) Deleted: AND (spiked! OR BBSR or Boathouse) 2. (“letter of intent” OR loi) AND (spiked! OR BBSR OR Boathouse) 3. earnout 4. (volume OR “2.10”) AND (spiked! OR BBSR or Boathouse) Deleted: earnout 5. “competitive product” Deleted: AND (bon /2 viv) 6. (bon /2 viv) OR “B&V” 7. (can OR label) AND design AND (spiked! OR (bon /2 viv) OR BBSR OR Boathouse) 8. (spikedseltzer OR (bon /2 viv)) AND (market! OR advertis! OR promot! or confus!) 9. “super bowl” AND (spiked! OR (bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”) 10. “water street” OR SpikedTonic! 11. (bon /2 viv) AND (customer OR review OR feedback OR “social media” OR twitter OR facebook OR Instagram) 12. bbsr AND (meet! OR call OR minutes OR agenda) Deleted: ) AND ( 13. complaint AND (AB OR Anheuser OR boathouse OR bbsr OR spiked! OR (bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”) 14. “First Beverage” OR townsend OR ziebold OR (ryan /2 lake) OR (stephen /2 scharafin) 15. spiked! AND “parent” 16. (Spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) AND (generic OR ownable OR replac!) 17. ((spiked! OR ((bon /2 viv) OR “B&V”)) AND (volume OR sales) 18. (“Natural Light” or “Natty Light”) w/3 Seltzer 19. (“Bud Light” /3 Seltzer) or “BL Seltzer” EXHIBIT C Friday, April 19, 2024 at 12:58:32 Eastern Daylight Time Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch Date: Friday, February 2, 2024 at 9:53:56 AM Eastern Standard Time From: Jordana Haviv To: Langsdale, Greg, Katie Friel, Amos Friedland, Ted Normand, bquarmby@mololamken.com CC: Wallach, Brian, Mann, Samuel, Boccamazzo, Anthony J., Richard Cipolla Thanks Greg. We look forward to receiving your le9er today. By this email, we confirm (less than 2 weeks a@er your request) that we will review linearly for responsive, non-privileged documents, all of the communicaEons between the former owners of Boathouse, including Mr. Shields and Mr. Holmes. We trust this resolves your issue. To be clear, BBSR is requesEng hit counts because Anheuser-Busch has taken the posiEon that it can narrow (and perhaps significantly narrow) our proposed search terms based on concerns of burden, without actually assessing the volume of documents called back by our search terms (or yours). Clearly, that is not appropriate. BBSR is requesEng hit counts in order to evaluate your counterproposal, as is relaEvely standard in liEgaEon. We propose the parEes begin rolling producEons by February 23. Please confirm. Jordana Haviv Partner Freedman Normand Friedland LLP 99 Park Ave., Suite 1910 New York, NY 10016 (t) 646.350.0527 x 107 (c) 917.623.0757 (@) jhaviv@fnf.law From: Langsdale, Greg Date: Thursday, February 1, 2024 at 2:53 PM To: Jordana Haviv , Katie Friel , Amos Friedland , Ted Normand , bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian , Mann, Samuel , Boccamazzo, Anthony J. , Richard Cipolla Subject: RE: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch [EXTERNAL SENDER] 1 of 9 Jordy, Our response to the 12-page le9er we received from Amos (despite the fact that we specifically discussed during our last meet and confer that it would not be producEve to engage in a le9er wriEng campaign) will address search terms. We expect to send that this week. To be clear, despite our preference to have a global resoluEon concerning document requests prior to commencing review, we have collected and reviewed tens of thousands of documents in this ma9er. At the same Eme BBSR is demanding that AB provide hit counts, BBSR has not provided any informaEon concerning the volume of communicaEons between Mr. Shields and Mr. Holmes, the two leaders of BBSR whom BBSR has excluded from its commitment to review every communicaEon among the former owners of Boathouse. Please provide that informaEon. We maintain our posiEon that every communicaEon between Messrs. Shields and Holmes, and either one of them with the other former owners of Boathouse, should be reviewed for responsiveness. Finally, while BBSR has repeatedly and erroneously asserted that there are “hundreds of millions of dollars” in dispute, this case presents a narrow and straigh_orward issue: whether Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer was a Boathouse product. It was, and Mr. Shields repeatedly acknowledged this truth in contemporaneous communicaEons with other members of BBSR. Best regards, Greg Greg Langsdale Partner Cadwalader, Wickersham & Ta@ LLP 1919 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20006 Office: +1 (202) 862-2267 | Mobile: +1 (703) 851-6508 Greg.Langsdale@cwt.com | www.cadwalader.com From: Jordana Haviv Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2024 3:00 PM To: Mann, Samuel ; KaEe Friel ; Langsdale, Greg ; Amos Friedland ; Ted Normand ; bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Richard Cipolla Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch CauEon: This email originated from outside of CWT. Do not click links or open a9achments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Sam, following up on my email below. Please provide a response. AddiEonally, we can agree to your proposed redlines to the search terms for BBSR’s documents. Thanks. 2 of 9 Jordana Haviv Partner Freedman Normand Friedland LLP 99 Park Ave., Suite 1910 New York, NY 10016 (t) 646.350.0527 x 107 (c) 917.623.0757 (@) jhaviv@fnf.law From: Jordana Haviv Date: Friday, January 26, 2024 at 7:49 PM To: Mann, Samuel , Katie Friel , Langsdale, Greg , Amos Friedland , Ted Normand , bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian , Boccamazzo, Anthony J. , Richard Cipolla Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch Thanks Sam. We’ll revert on your proposed edits to BBSR’s search terms. With respect to your significant efforts to narrow our proposed search terms for AB’s documents, can you please idenEfy the basis for the narrowing? Are any of the revisions based in relevance? They do not appear to be as they largely (if not enErely) appear to be limitaEons on the connectors (e.g. “/20” instead of “OR”). Assuming that’s accurate, and as noted on the meet and confer, please provide hit counts. We cannot assess whether these limiters are appropriate without at least hit counts for the terms/custodians we requested that we can compare to your proposed limitaEons, parEcularly in light of the fact that hundreds of millions of dollars are in dispute in this ma9er. Please provide hit counts promptly as we have now waited over a month for your redline, which is not even tethered to an assessment of the volume of responsive documents. Jordana Haviv Partner Freedman Normand Friedland LLP 99 Park Ave., Suite 1910 New York, NY 10016 (t) 646.350.0527 x 107 (c) 917.623.0757 (@) jhaviv@fnf.law From: Mann, Samuel 3 of 9 Date: Friday, January 26, 2024 at 5:49 PM To: Katie Friel , Langsdale, Greg , Amos Friedland , Jordana Haviv , Ted Normand , bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian , Boccamazzo, Anthony J. , Richard Cipolla Subject: RE: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch [EXTERNAL SENDER] KaEe, A9ached are our markups to both sets of search terms and custodians. As discussed in Monday’s meet and confer, these revisions are subject to conEnued discussion and we expressly reserve the right to revisit the burden associated with specific terms as we move through the review. Please note that for certain of the AB proposed terms, we have struck the proposed term and suggested narrower alternaEves, including breaking a proposed term into two terms. We acknowledge receipt of your le9er dated today and will respond under separate cover. Best, Sam From: KaEe Friel Sent: Friday, January 26, 2024 4:00 PM To: Langsdale, Greg ; Amos Friedland ; Mann, Samuel ; Jordana Haviv ; Ted Normand ; bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Richard Cipolla Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch CauEon: This email originated from outside of CWT. Do not click links or open a9achments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Counsel, please see a9ached correspondence. Thanks, KaEe From: KaEe Friel Date: Friday, January 19, 2024 at 4:51 PM To: Langsdale, Greg , Amos Friedland , Mann, 4 of 9 Samuel , Jordana Haviv , Ted Normand , bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian , Boccamazzo, Anthony J. , Richard Cipolla Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch Greg - glad to hear everything is ok. 2:00 pm on Monday works for us. Get Outlook for iOS From: Langsdale, Greg Sent: Friday, January 19, 2024 2:37:08 PM To: Amos Friedland ; Mann, Samuel ; KaEe Friel ; Jordana Haviv ; Ted Normand ; bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Richard Cipolla Subject: RE: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch [EXTERNAL SENDER] Thank you for your understanding, all is well here now. Are you available to reconvene on Monday? We could do 11:30 or 2 pm if either of those Emes work for you. Regards, Greg From: Amos Friedland Sent: Friday, January 19, 2024 3:02 PM To: Langsdale, Greg ; Mann, Samuel ; KaEe Friel ; Jordana Haviv ; Ted Normand ; bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Richard Cipolla Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch CauEon: This email originated from outside of CWT. Do not click links or open a9achments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Ok let us know - we are dialed in. Amos Friedland Partner Freedman Normand Friedland LLP 5 of 9 99 Park Avenue, Suite 1910 New York, New York 10016 (t) (646) 970-7519 (f) (646) 392-8842 (m) (203) 809-1953 From: Langsdale, Greg Sent: Friday, January 19, 2024 2:59:07 PM To: Mann, Samuel ; KaEe Friel ; Amos Friedland ; Jordana Haviv ; Ted Normand ; bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Richard Cipolla Subject: RE: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch [EXTERNAL SENDER] Amos and team: I apologize for sending this moments before we are set to begin but we have an urgent family issue I need to a9end to right now relaEng to one of my kids. I will reach back out if this is resolved quickly but we may need to move to next week. Again, apologies. Greg From: Mann, Samuel Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2024 8:45 PM To: KaEe Friel ; Langsdale, Greg ; Amos Friedland ; Jordana Haviv ; Ted Normand ; bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Richard Cipolla Subject: RE: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch Yes, we will be prepared to discuss search terms. From: KaEe Friel Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2024 4:19 PM To: Mann, Samuel ; Langsdale, Greg ; Amos Friedland ; Jordana Haviv ; Ted Normand ; bquarmby@mololamken.com Cc: Wallach, Brian ; Boccamazzo, Anthony J. ; Richard Cipolla Subject: Re: BBSR v. Anheuser-Busch 6 of 9 EXHIBIT D February 2, 2024 VIA E-MAIL Amos E. Friedland, Esq. Jordana Haviv, Esq. Katie Friel, Esq. Freedman Normand Friedland LLP 99 Park Ave., Suite 1910 New York, NY 10016 Re: BBSR, LLC v. Anheuser-Busch, LLC No. X03-HHD-CV-226166055 S (Conn. Super. Ct.) Dear Counsel: We write in response to BBSR’s letter dated January 26, 2024. I was surprised to receive a letter from Mr. Friedland purporting to summarize a meet and confer that he did not attend. I was also disappointed to receive such a letter in the first place, given the conversation we had with Ms. Haviv and Ms. Friel at the conclusion of the meet and confer on January 22, 2024, when I thought we were in agreement that it would not be productive to engage in a letter-writing campaign. Finally, your letter discusses every single Anheuser-Busch discovery response that BBSR finds unsatisfactory. Those responses were served nearly six months ago. With the exception of the three interrogatories mentioned on page 2 of your 12-page letter, the parties have not even conferred on any of those other discovery responses. This case presents a narrow and straightforward issue: whether Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer was a Boathouse product. It was. Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer cans bore the name “Boathouse Beverage LLC.” Mr. Shields’s contemporaneous emails demonstrate that he knew that the appropriate way to calculate the Earnout was based on sales of Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer as a Boathouse product. It was only after Mr. Shields learned of the anticipated introduction of Bud Light Seltzer that he and other BBSR members decided to concoct a scheme they knew to be false: that Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer was not a Boathouse product. This lawsuit is BBSR’s attempt to monetize that false narrative in order to “get something more from AB” than the tens of millions of dollars that Anheuser-Busch has already paid under the parties’ contract. Gregory W. Langsdale Tel +1 202 862-2267 Fax +1 202 862-2400 greg.langsdale@cwt.com February 2, 2024 Despite the straightforward nature of this dispute, BBSR set off on a massive fishing expedition and served 137 discovery requests, many of which are cumulative, duplicative, irrelevant, grossly overbroad, unduly burdensome, vague, and/or compound, among other things. Notwithstanding these defects, Anheuser-Busch has agreed to produce troves of documents, including drafts of the Equity Purchase Agreement (RFP 3); drafts of the Letter of Intent (RFP 4); employment agreements with Mr. Shields (RFP 5); employment agreements with Mr. Holmes (RFP 5); any formal description of Messrs. Shields’s or Holmes’s roles and responsibilities (RFP 5); press releases concerning Mr. Shields, Mr. Holmes, SpikedSeltzer, or Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer (RFP 11); documents collecting or summarizing consumer feedback regarding Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer (RFP 18); documents discussing a “parent” brand for SpikedSeltzer, including documents referencing “Water Street” (RFP 19); documents discussing “SPIKEDSELTZER90” (RFP 20); trademark applications for SpikedSeltzer and Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or its Canadian counterpart and associated documents received from those entities (RFP 24); and communications with Mr. Shields and/or Mr. Holmes relating to the calculation of the Earnout (RFP 29); documents regarding: the negotiation of the Equity Purchase Agreement (RFP 2, 3); the negotiation of the Letter of Intent (RFP 2, 4); the calculation of the Earnout (RFP 2, 28, 30); the Earnout payment paid by Anheuser-Busch on January 31, 2022 (RFP 30); the Earnout report sent to BBSR (RFP 30); the Amended Earnout report sent to BBSR on February 23, 2022, and the calculation thereof (RFP 32); compensation for Mr. Shields (RFP 2); compensation for Mr. Holmes (RFP 2); Mr. Shields’s involvement in the reformulation of SpikedSeltzer to Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer (RFP 2); SpikedSeltzer’s trademark, word mark, or trade dress (RFP 6); “Project Siren” and the repositioning/reformulation of SpikedSeltzer (RFP 12, 15, 22); and Nick Shields’s involvement in the development, launch, or promotion of Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer (RFP 16); and documents sufficient to show: the SpikedSeltzer recipe following the acquisition of Boathouse (RFP 7); the recipe for Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer (RFP 15, 22); the Volume of SpikedSeltzer and Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer on an annual basis (RFP 9, 17, 33); the budget and resources allocated to Boathouse products (RFP 10); suggestions to wholesalers to “manage down” inventory of SpikedSeltzer (RFP 13); the transition of Boathouse Beverage to the Beyond Beer team (RFP 21); the assignment of a Bon & Viv trademark to Boathouse Beverage LLC on or around August 1, 2019 (RFP 25); considerations regarding a “re-release of SpikedSeltzer” (RFP 26, 27); the date of the introduction of Natural Light Seltzer (RFP 31); and the annual sales volume of Natural Light Seltzer, Bud Light Seltzer, Bud Light Platinum Seltzer, Michelob Ultra Seltzer, Social Club Seltzer, Cacti Agave Seltzer, and Year Of Seltzer (RFP 34). We have already reviewed tens of thousands of documents and will be prepared to begin rolling productions after a Protective Order is entered by the Court. In response to BBSR’s interrogatories, Anheuser-Busch has identified persons involved in communications with Boathouse representatives prior to the execution of the Equity Purchase Page 2 February 2, 2024 Agreement (ROG 2); individuals with knowledge relating to the acquisition of Boathouse (ROG 3); individuals who had involvement regarding the Letter of Intent (ROG 5); individuals who had involvement regarding the Equity Purchase Agreement (ROG 6); persons who participated in calculating or determining the Earnout payment (ROG 8); persons who have knowledge relating to the calculation of the Earnout (ROG 10, 11); individuals having knowledge of the repositioning/reformulation of SpikedSeltzer as Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer (ROG 12); individuals with knowledge of the creation or development of Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer’s trade dress, trademarks, or logos (ROG 13); individuals with knowledge of the registration of Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer’s trade dress, trademarks, or logos with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office and any international counterpart agency (ROG 14); the flavored alcohol seltzer beverage products or brands created, launched, or sold by Anheuser-Busch or its affiliates from 2016 through 2021 (ROG 15); individuals who had managerial responsibility for the marketing of Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer (ROG 22); and agreed to produce documents sufficient to show the annual sales volume of SpikedSeltzer, Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer, Natural Light Seltzer, Bud Light Seltzer, Social Club Seltzer, Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer, Bud Light Lemonade Seltzer, and Michelob Ultra Seltzer (ROG 16); and documents sufficient to show considerations regarding a “re-release of SpikedSeltzer” (ROG 24). We have also responded to 49 of BBSR’s 60 Requests for Admission. Thus, BBSR’s attempt to mischaracterize Anheuser-Busch’s responses to BBSR’s myriad discovery requests as deficient is simply not accurate. Moreover, Anheuser-Busch served its responses and objections to BBSR’s discovery in mid-August 2023. We heard nothing from BBSR for months. BBSR made no attempt to engage with Anheuser-Busch regarding its discovery responses until December, when another matter your firm was handling settled. BBSR then sent a list of proposed search terms and custodians the day before Christmas Eve. We are committed to engaging with you in good faith to resolve discovery disputes, but please do not attempt to suggest that Anheuser-Busch has been dilatory in any way, particularly given the manner in which BBSR has proceeded (or not proceeded) as the plaintiff in this matter. January 22, 2024 Meet and Confer re: Anheuser-Busch’s Discovery Responses We discussed three of BBSR’s interrogatories to Anheuser-Busch at our January 22, 2024 meet and confer, and respond to your letter concerning those interrogatories below: Interrogatory No. 22. We have identified persons of whom we are currently aware who had managerial responsibility for the marketing of Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer. We will amend the answer if and when necessary based on our ongoing investigation. Page 3 February 2, 2024 Interrogatory No. 21. This interrogatory asks Anheuser-Busch to “Identify all employees, agents, or consultants of Anheuser-Busch with knowledge (actual, constructive, direct, or indirect) of the marketing of SpikedSeltzer during the Relevant Period.” We do not agree that the “marketing of SpikedSeltzer” is “plainly relevant” to “whether Bon & Viv and SpikedSeltzer were Competitive Products,” as you argue, nor does it have any relevance to whether Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer was one of “the Company’s products or brands.” (EPA § 2.10(b).) We agreed to produce documents relating to “Project Siren” and the repositioning/reformulation of SpikedSeltzer, as well as documents sufficient to show considerations regarding a “re-release of SpikedSeltzer.” The distinction between Interrogatory No. 21 and Interrogatory No. 22 is clear—marketing efforts behind SpikedSeltzer in 2016, 2017, and 2018 prior to the reformulation and repositioning to Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer have nothing to do with whether Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer is a Boathouse product, and any probative value is outweighed by the burden of sifting through years’ worth of marketing-related documents. On the other hand, it is at least conceivable that Interrogatory No. 22 may shed light on the that issue. Interrogatory No. 25. This interrogatory asked Anheuser-Busch to “Identify all persons with knowledge (actual, constructive, direct, or indirect) of consumer feedback and responses to SpikedSeltzer and other Anheuser-Busch/Constellation Brands alcoholic seltzer products including, but not limited to, Bon & Viv, Natural Light Seltzer, Bud Light Seltzer, Corona Hard Seltzer, Michelob Ultra Seltzer, Social Club Seltzer, Model Ranch Water, Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer, and Svedka Spiked Seltzer during the Relevant Period.” As noted in our objection and during the meet and confer, several of these products are not even Anheuser-Busch products. And as we also mentioned, it would be burdensome and impractical to attempt to list the names of every person who, for example, may have answered a consumer’s call to a 1-800 number. In response to Document Request No. 18, we agreed to produce documents collecting or summarizing consumer feedback regarding Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer. That should be more than sufficient at this point. Anheuser-Busch Responses and Objections About Which The Parties Have Not Met and Conferred. The remainder of your letter lists every Anheuser-Busch discovery response with which BBSR is dissatisfied. The parties have not conferred regarding any of these requests. Anheuser- Busch has repeatedly offered to meet and confer regarding any particular document request, interrogatory, or request for admission that BBSR would like to discuss, and we remain willing to do so. However, we do not believe it is a productive use of the parties’ time to exchange letters without meeting and conferring. Page 4 February 2, 2024 It is, however, worth making a few points. First, it is well-settled that the proponent of a discovery request has the burden of articulating the relevance of their respective requests to the causes of action that remain pending, not some abstract notion of what might be pertinent to tangential references in the Complaint that have no bearing on the case’s outcome. See, e.g., Berger v. Cuomo, 230 Conn. 1, 6–7, 644 A.2d 333, 337 (1994). “Discovery is confined to facts material to the plaintiff’s cause of action and does not afford an open invitation to delve into the defendant’s affairs. A plaintiff must be able to demonstrate good faith as well as probable cause that the information sought is both material and necessary to his action. A plaintiff should describe with such details as may be reasonably available the material he seeks and should not be allowed to indulge a hope that a thorough ransacking of any information and material which the defendant may possess would turn up evidence helpful to his case.” Id. (cleaned up) (emphasis added). BBSR has not done that. Second, your complaint that “it appears AB does not yet know the number—or even an estimate of the number—of individuals that would be covered by [interrogatories that have been objected to]” puts the cart before the horse. As we have explained in our meet and confers, many of the interrogatories are so broadly phrased that compliance would require the names of hundreds of current and former employees. Such overbroad requests are unreasonable, burdensome, and not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. The only way to tell you how many people would have to be identified in response to certain interrogatories would be to turn the Company upside down in an attempt to identify those hundreds of names. The example I provided at the meet and confer was individuals who may have answered calls from consumers to 1-800 numbers to provide feedback about products. We do not have the names of every person who answered Anheuser-Busch’s 1-800 number over a 6+ year period. The burden and expense of identifying those individuals would far outweigh any probative value (there is none) of providing that discovery. In any event, none of the objections to interrogatories are based solely on burden. Third, your statement “it appears that AB has not run searches for responsive documents to date” and that Anheuser-Busch’s efforts to narrow the burden imposed by BBSR’s proposed search terms is “entirely arbitrary” (Ltr. at 6) is not accurate and is also contrary to what we said at the meet and confer. As we stated, we have tested your proposed search terms over documents from a sample of five custodians in order to inform our response to your search terms and to assist in assessing the burden of requests for production subject to dispute. We are committed to proceeding in good faith and are willing to meet and confer regarding our discovery responses. Page 5 February 2, 2024 Search Terms By email on January 26, 2024, Ms. Haviv asked whether any of Anheuser-Busch’s revisions to the search terms suggested by BBSR were based on relevance. The answer is yes given Anheuser-Busch’s careful effort to narrow the scope of numerous terms while maintaining core concepts of terms that may be in scope, as opposed to completely striking other terms. Nevertheless, in order to be transparent, the following terms were struck (at least in part) due to lack of relevance:  Term 191