Free Letter - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:05-cv—OO499-JJF Document 312 Filed 01/17/2008 Page1 of2
Bl.Al\ll<~ ROlv1Ettr·
COUNSELORS AT LAW
Phone: (302) 425-6467
Fax. (302) 425-6464
Email: zlubegwjblorrkronte.cont
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
Wilmington, DE 19801
Re: • Magten Asset Management Corp. and Law Debenture Trust C0. v.
Northwestern Corp.; C.A. N0. 04-1494-JJF
• Magten Asset Management Corp. v. Mike .L Hanson and Ernie .L Kindt;
C.A. N0. 05-0499-JJF
Your Honor:
I write on behalf of the Plaintiffs in the above-referenced actions. The cases are
scheduled for a joint pretrial conference on February 7, 2008, and submission of the proposed
pretrial order is due on January 31, 2008. The draft pretrial order the Plaintiffs previously
submitted to the Defendants contains a discussion point for the pretrial conference regarding the
possible filing of motions in limine or other similar motions. On January 10, 2008 — after
providing an approximately one hour notice — the Defendants tiled separate motions in limine to
strike and exclude the testimony of Plaintiffs' expert witnesses.
lt is the Plaintiffs' understanding that, under local practice, motions in limine should not
be filed without leave of the Court, particularly given that (a) the trial against NorthWestem
(case 04-1494) will be a bench trial, and (b) assuming the trial against NorthWestem goes
forward on March 3, the jury trial against Messrs. Hanson and Kindt (05-0499) has not yet been
assigned a trial date.
To the extent that the Court prefers to address the issues raised by Defendants' motions as
they arise within the context of trial, responsive briehng is an unnecessary burden on both the
Court and the Plaintiffs. To the extent that the Court is willing to entertain motions in limine or
other similar motions, Plaintiffs also intend to raise several motions. For obvious reasons,
briefing on all such permitted motions should proceed on the same schedule — following
discussion with the Court at the pretrial conference.
This will certify, pursuant to Local Rule 7.1.1, that Plaintiffs' requested relief was
discussed with counsel for each Defendant. Defendants would not agree to a stay of briefing
Chase Manhattan Centre 1201 Market Street Suite 800 Wilmington, DE 19801
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Case 1:05-cv—OO499-JJF Document 312 Filed O1/17/2008 Page 2 of 2
BLAI\II<—ROMEtt»
The Honorable Joseph J. Faman, Jr. COUNSELORS AT LAW
January 17, 2008
Page 2
until the February 7 pretrial conference on their prematurely-filed motions, thus necessitating
that relief be sought from the Court.
Accordingly, the Plaintiffs hereby request that briefing on the Defendants' respective
motions in limine be stayed until the pretrial conference on February 7, 2008, or until such time
as the Court determines whether it will permit such motions. The Plaintiffs respectfully request
that the Court adopt this procedure by entering the order below.
Counsel is available by telephone if the Court would like to discuss this matter in
advance of the pretrial conference.
Respectfully submitted,
R. @<»JZ~·i.
Dale R. Dubé
I.D. No. 2863
DRD/pb
cc: Clerk of Court (via hand delivery)
Myles Bartley, Esquire (via e-mail and Federal Express)
Kimberly A. Beatty, Esquire (via e-mail and Federal Express)
John W. Brewer, Esquire
Victoria W. Counihan, Esquire (via e-mail and hand delivery)
Amanda Darwin, Esquire (via e-mail and Federal Express)
Nancy E. Delaney, Esquire (via e-mail and Federal Express)
Miriam K. Harwood, Esquire (via e-mail and Federal Express)
Stanley T. Kaleczyc, Esquire (via e-mail and Federal Express)
Gary L. Kaplan, Esquire
Denise Seastone Kraft, Esquire (via e-mail and hand delivery)
Dennis A. Meloro, Esquire (via e-mail and hand delivery)
Kathleen M. Miller (via e-mail and hand delivery)
Jordanna L. Nadritch, Esquire
Joseph D. Pizzurro, Esquire (via e-mail and Federal Express)
Steven J. Reisman, Esquire (via e-mail and Federal Express)
Peter B. Siroka, Esquire
John V. Snellings (via e-mail and Federal Express)
Bonnie Steingart
SO ORDERED this day of , 2008.
Honorable Joseph J. Faman, Jr.
United States District Court Judge