Free Letter - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:O7—cv-00065-JJF Document 32 Filed 02/15/2008 Paget of 2
rf . E . _ _
@. ‘ 8 Ege , ``ier ...ee
222 Delaware AventiemiSuite 900 www
RO. Box 25i30 • Wiirnington, DE · 19899
Zip Code For Deliveries 19801 U
302—429~42i2
[email protected]
February i5, 2008
VIA E—FILIN G AND HAND DELIVERY _
The Honorable Joseph J. Farnan, Jr. E
United States District Conrt J Q
J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building ,
844 N. King Street ;
Lock Box 27
Wilmington, DE 19801 r
RE: Chriss W Street v. End ofthe Road Trust, er ol. I
Case No. 07—cv—65 (HF)
Dear Iudge Farnan:
Bayard represents the Plaintiff, Chriss W. Street in the above—referenced action.
We respectfully seek the Conrt’s assistance regarding Mr. Street’s Motion to Remand to
Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and for Abstention Under 28 USC.
§ l334(c) (the "l\/iotion to Rernand").
By way of brief background, in January 2007, Mr. Street commenced this action
in the Chancery Court of the State of Delaware (the "Chancery Court") seeking
advancement of fees and expenses to cover, inter alia, the litigation costs that he is
incurring in an adversary proceeding commenced against him in his former capacity as
trustee of The End ofthe Road Trust and an officer of American Trailer Industries, Inc. in
the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the "Bankruptcy
Proceeding"). The Defendants in this action are the Plaintiffs in the Bankruptcy
Proceeding and Mr. Street has contractual rights to advance payment of these costs under ·
certain agreements with the Defendants.
in February 2007, the Defendants removed the Chancery Court action to the
District Court. On February 14, 2007, Mr. Street tiled the Motion to Remand seeking to
remand the action to the Chancery Court, where such actions are accorded expedited
treatment. See Homestore, Inc. v. Tafeen, 888 A.2d 204, 23l (Del. Super. 2005), a copy
of which is attached hereto. The Motion to Remand has been fully briefed since June l0,
2007, including a surreply and response to a surreply that were authorized by The
.. get W°t>_,¢
wx?&x6vil§(ayF]a&Ed§aw.com l’hone: (302) 655~5000 Fax: (302) 658—6395 ” wnlwgm

Case 1:O7—cv-00065-JJF Document 32 Filed O2/15/2008 Page 2 of 2
(@(f%l? l The Honorable Joseph J. Farnan, Jr.
February 15, 2008
Page 2 of 2
Honorable Mary Pat Thynge. in September 2007, Magistrate Judge Thynge offered to
decide the Motion to Remand if the parties consented, but the Plaintiffs were unwilling to
do so.
Since June 10, 2007, activity in the Bankruptcy Proceeding has increased
exponentially. The parties are engaged in fact discovery which is extensive for Mr. Street
because of the scope of the claims and defenses asserted in the Bankruptcy Proceeding
and because he turned over virtually all relevant documents in his possession to the
Plaintiffs (the Defendants before Your Honor) when he resigned as trustee of The End of
the J Road Trust. To date, Mr. Street has served a significant number of discovery
requests, including requests for production of documents on the Plaintiffs, as well as
approximately 30 third—party subpoenas. He has been served with three sets of written
discovery requests and has had to incur travel costs to review the documents in the
Plaintiff? control located in California, Minnesota and Mexico. Mr. Street has been
forced to prosecute and defend (successfully) numerous motions related to the discovery.
In addition, Mr. Street anticipates at least ten depositions of fact witnesses, as well as
expert discovery.
Mr. Street has incurred and paid legal fees and expenses in regard to the
Bankruptcy Proceeding and other matters for which he is entitled to advancement under
the agreements in excess of $750,000. As a result of these considerable costs, Mr. Street
has sold his residence to obtain funds necessary to defend the Bankruptcy Proceeding.
Any further delay in the process to a final decision on Mr. Street’s advancement claim
may seriously and adversely affect Mr. Street’s ability to defend himself Therefore, Mr.
Street respectfully requests that Your Honor consider and decide the Motion to Reinand
at Your l~lonor’s very earliest convenience.
Counsel is available at the convenience of the Court to discuss this matter further.
Respectfully submitted,
£2a..rbr\a.W
Charlene D. Davis
-CDD/ABS
q cc: Neil B. Glassrnan, Esquire
Ashley B. Stitzer, Esquire
Scott G. Wilcox, Esquire
Phillip Greer, Esquire (Via Email
David L. Finger, Esquire (Via Email and U.S. Mail First Class)
Robert T. Kugier, Esquire (Via Email and U.S. Mail First Class)
Robert L. DeMay, Esquire (Via Email and U.S. Mail First Class)
Sarah E. Doerr, Esquire (Via Email and U.S. Mail First Class)
Jacob B. Sellers, Esquire (Via Email and U.S. Mail First Class)
iccvacamvz}