Free Order - District Court of Connecticut - Connecticut

Case 3:03-cv-00409-DJS

Document 82

Filed 07/17/2007

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT JOEL MENKES, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. STOLT-NIELSEN S.A., JACOB STOLT-NIELSEN, NIELS G. STOLTNEILSEN, SAMUEL COOPERMAN, and REGINALD J.R. LEE, Defendants. : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

No. 3:03CV00409(DJS)

ORDER Lead Plaintiffs, Irene Rucker and Gustav Rucker, bring this action on behalf of a putative class of purchasers of defendant Stolt-Nielsen S.A.'s American Depository Receipts for the period of May 31, 2000 through February 20, 2003 pursuant to Sections 10(b), 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), and 20(a), 15 U.S.C. § 78t, of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("PSLRA"), 15 U.S.C. §§ 78a-78mm, and Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5, promulgated thereunder, against Stolt-Nielsen S.A. ("SNSA"),1 Jacob StoltNielsen, Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen, Samuel Cooperman ("Cooperman"), and Reginald J.R. Lee (collectively, "Defendants"). On December 4, 2006, the court stayed the discovery in this
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SNSA engages in, among other things, international shipping. According to Lead Plaintiffs, SNSA's international shipping concerns are coordinated through SNSA's wholly-owned subsidiary, Stolt-Nielsen Transportation Group, Inc. ("SNTG"), which Lead Plaintiffs have also implicated in their claims.

Case 3:03-cv-00409-DJS

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Filed 07/17/2007

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case because of a parallel criminal case pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The

court ordered the Defendants to file a status report on March 31, 2007. The Defendants filed that status report, in which they

represented that they were in the midst of "intensive pretrial motions and preparations"; asked the court to continue the stay; and stated that they would file an status update on June 29, 2007. On June 29, 2007, the Defendants filed their updated status report, in which the Defendants represent that motions to dismiss the indictment have been filed in the criminal case. The

Defendants now ask that the stay be continued until a final ruling on the pending motions to dismiss the indictment. According to the Defendants, the motions to dismiss the indictments will be ripe for decision by the end of August 2007. The Defendants propose to file a status report on or before September 28, 2007. The court shall allow the stay of discovery

to continue at this time, and the Defendants shall file a status report on or before September 28, 2007. CONCLUSION The Defendants shall submit a status report on or before September 28, 2007. The status report shall detail the progress

of the above-mentioned criminal case, including the status of the pending motions to dismiss the indictment, and address the -2-

Case 3:03-cv-00409-DJS

Document 82

Filed 07/17/2007

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propriety of continuing the stay on discovery.

After the

submission of that status report, the court shall determine whether to continue or lift the stay on discovery.

SO ORDERED this 17th day of July, 2007.

/s/DJS DOMINIC J. SQUATRITO UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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