Free Letter - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:04-cv-01494-JJF Document 89 Filed 10/16/2006 Page1 of 3
BLANl<“ ROMELLP
COUNSELORS AT LAW
Phone: (302) 425-6467 A
Fax: (302) 425-6464
Email: dube(a>blankrgme.gom
October 16, 2006
VIA CMF AND HAND DELIVERY
The Honorable Joseph J. Faman, Jr.
United States District Court
for the District of Delaware
844 King Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
Re: • Magten Asset Management Corp. and Law Debenture Trust Co. v.
Northwestern Corp.; C.A. No. 04-1494-JJF;
• Magten Asset Management Corp. v. Mike .L Hanson and Ernie .L Kindt;
C.A. No. 05-0499-JJF
• Magten Asset Management Corp. v. Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker
LLP; C.A. No. 04-1256-JFF
Your Honor:
We write on behalf of the Plaintiffs in the above-captioned actions, which have been
consolidated for discovery. Discovery in these cases had been stayed by Local Rule 30.2 since
February because all Defendants had joined in Northwestern’s Motions for Protective Orders.
On September 29, 2006, the Court entered its Orders denying those motions in their entirety.
Plaintiffs promptly advised Defendants that they wished to proceed with discovery and
requested, by letter dated October 3, 2006, that this Court schedule a conference so that an
appropriate scheduling order might be entered. The delay caused by Defendants’ motion
practice has made the schedule proposed in our letter of January 9, 2006, no longer feasible.
On October 13, 2006, we had a conference call with counsel for Defendants to discuss
dates for the scheduling order. We proposed the following:
Fact Discovery: All discovery other than expert discovery will be completed no
later than Wednesday, Februa__ry 28, 2007.
Expert Discovery: The initial expert reports will be served by Friday, March 30,
2007. Rebuttal reports, if any, to these initial expert reports will be served by
Friday, April 20, 2007. All expert discovery, including expert depositions, will be
completed no later than Tuesday, May 15, 2007.
Chase Manhattan Centre 1201 Market Street Suite 800 Wilmington, DE 19801
l 20087.01600/40165 1 26v. l ‘”""‘”·Bla“kR°m€·c°m
Delaware • Florida • Maryland • New Jersey • New York • Ohio • Pennsylvania • Washington, DC

Case 1:04-cv-01494-JJF Document 89 Filed 10/16/2006 Page 2 of 3
BLANK E ROMErr»·
The Honorable Joseph J. Farnan, Jr. COUNSELCRS AI LAW
October 16, 2006
Page 2
Dispositive Motions: Summary judgment motions, if any, will be filed by
Friday, June 15, 2007.
This schedule provides five months from the date of the Court’s ruling denying Defendants’
motion for protective order for the parties to complete fact discovery, and a further two and a
half months for expert discovery.
Defendants have been aware of the claims in these actions for years and were served with
Plaintiffs’ initial discovery requests almost nine months ago (as well as earlier discovery requests
in the action transferred to this District from the District of Montana), although they have not yet
produced any documents in response to those requests. Nevertheless, Defendants refused to
agree to this proposed schedule and suggested that fact discovery should not be completed for
another twelve months.
We do not believe that a protracted schedule is warranted under the circrunstances.
Rather, this appears to be another chapter in Defendants’ continuing strategy of delay for delay's
sake. This Court, the Bankruptcy Court, and the District Corut for the District of Montana have
all rejected repeated motions by these Defendants seeking dismissal of plaintiffs’ claims without
permitting discovery. Most recently, this Court rejected Defendants’ attempt to limit the scope
of discovery. It is time for discovery to proceed.
We are continuing to discuss with counsel for Defendants how and when Defendants
will comply with the discovery demands which are currently outstanding. To the extent we are
unable to reach agreement on those issues, we will bring any unresolved matters to the attention
of the Special Master for resolution.
Counsel is available by telephone, should the Court have any questions.
Respectfully submitted,
Dale R. Dubé
I.D. No. 2863
- •
Bonnie Steingart
FRIED, FRANK, HARRIS, SHRIVER &
JACOBSON LLP
One New York Plaza
New York, NY 10004
1 2008701600/40165 l26v. 1

Case 1:04-cv-01494-JJF Document 89 Filed 10/16/2006 Page 3 of 3
BLANK _ ROMEtu·
The Honorable Joseph J. Farnan, Jr. COUNSELORS Al LAW
October 16, 2006
Page 3
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