Opinion
MDL 1446, CIVIL ACTION NO. H-01-3624 AND CONSOLIDATED CASES, CIVIL ACTION NO. H-01-3913 CONSOLIDATED CASES
December 11, 2003
ORDER
On December 11, 2003, this Court held a hearing on Lead Plaintiff's motion to compel the banks to produce the transcripts of sworn Statements of their current and former employees (instrument #1803). At the hearing counsel for Lead Plaintiff made an oral request for a five-week, time-out period, until January 22, 2004, during which the Court would hold in abeyance any discovery motions, to allow for a collegial effort among counsel to streamline discovery and draft a deposition protocol. Moreover, he requested that the Court set a hearing on January 22, 2004 to address any unresolved issues regarding the discovery motions. Furthermore, other counsel at the hearing requested the Court to extend the January 10, 2004 deadline for adding parties and filing cross claims beyond the January 22, 2004 hearing date. In addition, to aid the effort to bring all the parties to the table in this forum and to maintain order in this increasingly unwieldy litigation, counsel requested that the Court stay any remands of cases in this litigation until the hearing. No objections were raised to any aspects of the proposal.
Accordingly, the Court
ORDERS that the request for time out, with all attending conditions, is GRANTED. The January 10, 2004 deadline for adding parties and filing cross claims is VACATED, and another will be established at the hearing. Finally, the Court
ORDERS that all interested counsel shall appear for a hearing on the discovery issues on January 22, 2004 at 2:00 p.m. in Courtroom 9C.