Free Status Report - District Court of Connecticut - Connecticut

Case 3:03-cv-00409-DJS

Document 83

Filed 09/28/2007

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT Joel Menkes, et al., Plaintiffs, v. No. 3:03-CV-409 (DJS) Stolt-Nielsen S.A., et al., September 28, 2007 Defendants.

DEFENDANTS' STATUS REPORT CONCERNING STAY OF DISCOVERY In light of the criminal action pending before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against several Defendants in this securities action (i.e., the Stolt-Nielsen corporate defendants and Samuel A. Cooperman), as well as against non-party Richard B. Wingfield (collectively, the "Antitrust Defendants"), this Court, on December 4, 2006, stayed discovery in this proceeding to permit the Antitrust Defendants to resolve their motions to dismiss the criminal indictment without jeopardizing their constitutional rights (dkt. # 77). As part of their request for a stay, Defendants proposed filing periodic reports to update the Court and Plaintiffs on the status of the criminal proceedings. Consistent with Defendants' proposal, on July 17, 2007 this Court ordered Defendants to file this status report by September 28, 2007 (dkt. # 82). For the reasons set forth in the Court's Order staying discovery and in Defendants' previous status reports, Defendants submit that the stay should continue until final resolution of the Antitrust Defendants' pending motions to dismiss the indictment. As Defendants anticipated in their June 30, 2007 status report to the Court, all post-trial submissions in the criminal matter have now been filed and the Antitrust Defendants' motions to dismiss the indictment are sub judice and ripe for decision. Defendants propose to update this

Case 3:03-cv-00409-DJS

Document 83

Filed 09/28/2007

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Court when they receive a ruling in the criminal matter, or by December 28, 2007, if no ruling has issued by that date. I. STATUS OF THE CRIMINAL ACTION As Defendants explained in their June 30 status report, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held a 14-day evidentiary hearing in connection with the Antitrust Defendants' motions to dismiss the indictment. That hearing ended on June 21, 2007. Following that hearing, the Government and the Antitrust Defendants submitted post-hearing briefs, and proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. The parties completed their posthearing submissions on September 12, 2007. The Antitrust Defendants are now awaiting a ruling from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. II. THE STAY OF DISCOVERY SHOULD CONTINUE In its Order staying discovery, this Court followed the standards set forth in Bridgeport Harbour Place I, LLC v. Ganim, 269 F. Supp. 2d 6, 8 (D. Conn. 2002). See Dec. 4, 2006 Order at 3. Based upon the Bridgeport Harbour Place standards, this Court considered the prejudice that would flow to Defendants if the Antitrust Defendants, Mr. Cooperman in particular, were forced to choose between compromising their civil or criminal defenses. See Dec. 4, 2006 Order at 3. Defendants will continue to face the same prejudice if the stay is lifted. Finally, all briefing in the criminal matter is complete and the evidentiary record is closed. The matter is fully submitted. Should the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania grant the Antitrust Defendants' motions, the criminal proceedings could end, and the Fifth Amendment and Due Process concerns of Defendants and potential witnesses will be greatly reduced. For all of these reasons, Bridgeport Harbour Place and the Court's December 4, 2006 Order support continuation of the stay pending final resolution of the

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Case 3:03-cv-00409-DJS

Document 83

Filed 09/28/2007

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Antitrust Defendants' motions to dismiss the criminal indictment.

Respectfully submitted, Defendants Stolt-Nielsen S.A., Stolt-Nielsen Transportation Group Ltd., Jacob Stolt-Nielsen, Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen, Samuel Cooperman and Reginald J.R. Lee

Michael P. Shea (ct19598) Jason S. Weathers (ct24579) Day Pitney LLP City Place I 185 Asylum Street Hartford, CT 06103-3499 Tel: (860) 275-0356 Fax: (860) 275-0343 E-Mail: [email protected]

By:/s/ Jaime M. Crowe Christopher M. Curran (ct22743) J. Mark Gidley (ct18450) Peter J. Carney (ct24721) Jaime M. Crowe (ct25657) 701 Thirteenth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20005 Tel: (202) 626-3600 Fax: (202) 639-9355 E-Mail: [email protected]

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Case 3:03-cv-00409-DJS

Document 83

Filed 09/28/2007

Page 4 of 4

CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that on September 28, 2007, a copy of the foregoing Defendants' Status Update Concerning Stay of Discovery was filed electronically and served by mail on anyone unable to accept electronic filing. Notice of this filing will be sent by e-mail to all parties by operation of the Court's electronic filing system or by mail to anyone unable to accept electronic filing as indicated on the Notice of Electronic Filing. Parties may access this filing through the Court's CM/ECF System.

By:

/s/ Jaime M. Crowe Jaime M. Crowe (#ct25657) 701 Thirteenth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20005 Tel: (202) 626-3600 Fax: (202) 639-9355 [email protected]