|
|
Enron Mail |
The Costilla bankruptcy is pending in the court of Judge Ronald B. King, in
the Midland Division of the Western District of Texas. I spoke today with Jana, Judge King's clerk, about the Motion for Stay of Harris County Lawsuit that Costilla sent on October 19, 2001. Here is what I learned: 1. The Motion was actually filed today. It has not yet reached Judge King's chambers, and Judge King has not seen it. 2. Under local Rule 9014, negative notice language is required to be placed in most motions. The negative notice language says: "THIS PLEADING REQUESTS RELIEF THAT MAY BE ADVERSE TO YOUR INTERESTS. IF NOT TIMELY RESPONSE IS FILED WITHINT TWENTY (20) DAYS FROM THE DATE OF SERVICE, THE RELIEF REQUESTED HEREIN MAY BE GRANTED WITHOUT A HEARING BEING HELD. A TIMELY FILED RESPONSE IS NECESSARY FOR A HEARING TO BE HELD." 3. The Costilla motion does not include this negative notice language. Local rule 9014 of the Western District says that the negative notice language should not be included in "matters upon which a hearing is specifically required by the Bankruptcy Code or by applicable rules," or "matters that require the Court to act within a shortened time frame." 4. This is the type of motion that the Judge would normally set for hearing, and that's what Jana expects will happen here. If it is set for hearing, the earliest hearing date would likely be the end of November. 5. Jana will tell the Judge that we want an opportunity to respond to the motion. We will get notice of any hearing. If the judge sets a hearing, he may request a response within some specific period. Jana says it is unlikely that the Judge would give us less than 25 days or so. I think that just to be safe, we should prepare to submit a response no later than November 8, which is 20 days after the motion was mailed. -----Original Message----- From: Brownfeld, Gail [mailto:Gail.Brownfeld@ENRON.com] Sent: Monday, October 22, 2001 3:43 PM To: Katie Sammons; H. Lee Godfrey Cc: Sanders, Richard B.; White, Bonnie Subject: Costilla/Motion to Stay Bonnie White, the Enron attorney who filed the Harris County answer on behalf of JEDI, sent me a copy of a Motion for Stay of Harris County Lawsuit which was filed by George Hicks, Costilla's litigation trustee, in the US BR Court in Midland. I am having it faxed to you. Hicks is represented by Akin Gump who argue that, the Hall law firm, although experts in commercial litigation and personal injury cases (whatever), is inexperienced in BR proceedings and filed suit on behalf of the wrong entity. Ooops. Thereafter, they figured out that they had sued in the wrong name and (coincidently) also figured out that they wanted to sue "where the property made the subject of the suit" was located (and where Judge Bland wasn't)...Zapata County. After spending a paragraph or so feigning ignorance about why JEDI (inexplicably) answered the Harris County case when it hadn't been served, they argue that Costilla's lack of authority to sue in its own name as well as the bankruptcy protection afforded to Costilla require that the case be stayed. My favorite part is in paragraph 7 when Akin Gump argues that counsel "was voluntarily preparing" to dismiss the Harris County case. No Notice of Hearing was attached; however, I think we ought to get something into the BR court as soon as possible. By copy of this e-mail, I'm letting Bonnie know that you guys are on this and that she's off the hook. You may want to file a Notice of Substitution in Harris County so that everything comes directly to y'all. Please call me to discuss this when you get a chance. Thanks. ********************************************************************** This e-mail is the property of Enron Corp. and/or its relevant affiliate and may contain confidential and privileged material for the sole use of the intended recipient (s). Any review, use, distribution or disclosure by others is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient (or authorized to receive for the recipient), please contact the sender or reply to Enron Corp. at enron.messaging.administration@enron.com and delete all copies of the message. This e-mail (and any attachments hereto) are not intended to be an offer (or an acceptance) and do not create or evidence a binding and enforceable contract between Enron Corp. (or any of its affiliates) and the intended recipient or any other party, and may not be relied on by anyone as the basis of a contract by estoppel or otherwise. Thank you. **********************************************************************
|