Free Letter - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:O5—cv—OO499-JJF Document 314 Filed O1/17/2008 Paget of2
Traurig 9
Victoria W. Counihan
re:. $02661.7377
Fax sozeer neo
[email protected]
January 17, 2008
BY CM/ECF AND HAND DELIVERY
The Honorable Joseph J. Farnan, Jr.
United States District Court
District of Delaware
844 King Street ,,L,_,N,
Wilmington, DE 19801 AMWW
Re: Mugten Asset Management Carp. and Law Debenture Trust C0.
v. N0rth Western Corp.; CA. N0. 04-1494-JJF
Magten Asset Management Carp. v. Mike J Hanson and XRIS _
, . a US
Erme .L Kzndt; C.A. N0. 05-0499-JJF §
irtlmecr
Dear Judge Faman:
DELAWARE
. I write on behalf of Defendant NorthWestern Corporation in response to the
letter of this date by counsel for Plaintiffs in these actions. ¤»¤¤¤€r¤r~¤€
There is nothing in the local rules or the Court’s individual rules to support Iu.s~.»rexr
Plaintiffs’ contention that a Daubert motion seeking to exclude the testimony of expert ILOi\$D©N"
witnesses cannot be made without leave of the Court. Indeed, only yesterday, counsel based LOSANCELES
her request for an extension of the briefing schedule on an exparte communication with
Chambers. Neither was NorthWestem required to seek Plaintiffs’ consent before filing the
motion. We conferred with Plaintiffs’ counsel on January 10 only in order to determine gm
whether Plaintiffs would agree to the requested relief as the local rules require for non- t_,,, mi
dispositive motions. I,,,.,g, Cgww
Given the nature of NorthWestern’s Daubert motion in the context of this case,
we believe it is prudent for the Court to consider the motion now. Plaintiffs continue to IWW
struggle to connect NorthWestern’s misstated financial statements to the Going Flat
Transaction. Based on their latest theory, a significant portion of Plaintiffs’ case now rests
upon the testimony of their two experts. The first one could not explain the methodology for Wi
. . . . . . . . S§L~U.¢t‘FiLL’Y
his impairment analysis and was forced to withdraw his earlier testimony. The second not only A
relied on the faulty opinions of the first, but also offered an opinion as to how the Montana
Public Service Commission (MPSC) would rule in a hypothetical situation despite his lack of
experience before the MPSC and the prohibition regarding an expert offering a legal D Z
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conclusion.

WEST fiitflvl BEACH
at Law IThe Nemours Building I `lOO7 North Orange Street I Suite 1200 I‘~J~/ilaningtnn, DE i980l
ra se.2.ee·t.?cac I an ae;2.aei.raac

Case 1:O5—cv—OO499-JJF Document 314 Filed O1/17/2008 Page 2 of 2
These are not the typical motions in limine that can and are routinely dealt with
on the eve of trial. Given the qualifications, methodology and fit of Plaintiffs’ experts,
NorthWestern submits that it is likely a hearing will be required to determine if their testimony
should be received. The Court’s decision will substantially effect the conduct of the trial.
Plaintiffs should respond to the motions without further delay so the Court can
have the benefit of addressing these issues at the pre—trial conference or otherwise at the
Cou1t’s convenience prior to the start of trial.
Respectfully submitted,
. ‘ i - i

Victoria W. Counihan (No. 3488)
cc: Clerk of Court (Via ECF)
Dale R. Dube, Esq. (Via E—Mail: [email protected])
Bonnie Steingart, Esq. (Via E—Mail: [email protected])
Gary L. Kaplan, Esq. (Via E—Mail: l Kathleen M. Miller, Esq. (Via E—Mail: [email protected])
Amanda Darwin, Esq. (Via E—Mail: adarwin@nixonpeabodycom)
John V. Snellings, Esq. (Via E-Mail: [email protected])
Stanley T. Kaleczyc, Esq. (Via E-Mail: [email protected])
Kimberly Beatty, Esq. (Via E—Mail: l Denise Seastone Kraft, Esq. (Via E-Mail: dkrai’[email protected])
Joseph D. Pizzurro, Esq. (Via e~Mail:[email protected])
Steven J. Reisman, Esq. (Via E-Mail: [email protected])
John Brewer, Esq. (Via E—Mail: [email protected])
Miriam Harwood, Esq. (Via E-Mail: [email protected])
Myles Bartley, Esq. (Via E—Mail: [email protected])
Nancy Delaney, Esq. (Via E—Mail: [email protected])
Peter Siroka, Esq. (Via E—Mail: [email protected])
DEL 86206168vi 1/17/2008
Greenberg Traurig, LLP