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Enron Mail |
As reported in Tim Taylor's prior email, Judge Moskowitz deferred ruling on
the motion to stay pending resolution of the Section 455 issue. Judge Moskowitz rejected plaintiffs' argument that defendants should be required to formally move to recuse, stating that he felt required to resolve the Section 455 issue before proceeding further. On the other hand, he did not accept our argument that judicial economy favors deferral of the 455 issue to the MDL Panel, stating instead that he needed to resolve the issue, lest the Panel designate him as the MDL transferee court for cases he could not accept. Judge Moskowitz continued the matter to April 12 at 2:30 pm (PST), at which time the Court will hear oral argument on both the 455 issue and the stay motion. In the interim, the parties will brief the 455 issue in accordance with the following schedule: Plaintiff's brief - April 2 Defendants' response - April 10 Plaintiff's reply - April 12 As to the stay motion, Judge Moskowitz indicated he would need to review the issues raised in the remand briefs before deciding the stay motion. He stated that, generally speaking, if the remand motions require substantial effort and raise issues on which reasonable minds could defer, then he is inclined to grant a stay, given considerations of judicial economy and the public's interest in consistent rulings. While Judge Moskowitz was careful to note he has not decided this issue, many of the defense counsel who attended the hearing came away with the impression that the Court is favorably inclined to the stay arguments. As to the timing of the remand motion, Judge Moskowitz stated that, if he does not recuse himself and if he does not stay the cases, the remand motion will be heard "a couple of weeks" after April 17. Plaintiffs expressed concern that the remand motion be heard before the MDL rule in May. Judge Moskowitz did not commit to any specific schedule, but appeared receptive to plaintiffs' position on this timing issue. A transcript has been ordered and should be available on Monday for circulation. Several counsel have suggested that we have a group discussion after we review the transcript to assess our options on the various issues, including the Section 455 issue. As such, we have scheduled a conference call for Wednesday, March 28 at 11 am (PST). The dial in number is 1-800-210-5603 (pass code 5103596#). I will circulate an agenda before the call. Regards. ************** CONFIDENTIAL Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP 600 West Broadway Suite 2600 San Diego, CA 92101-3391 (619) 236-1414 The information contained in this electronic mail transmission is confidential and intended to be sent only to the stated recipient of the transmission. It may therefore be protected from unauthorized use or dissemination by the attorney-client and/or attorney work-product privileges. If you are not the intended recipient or the intended recipient's agent, you are hereby notified that any review, use, dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. You are also asked to notify us immediately by telephone and to delete this transmission with any attachments and destroy all copies in any form. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
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