Opinion
04 Civ. 9252 (CSH), 06 Civ. 1840 (CSH).
August 14, 2006
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
It recently came to the Court's attention that the case of G G Steel, Inc. v. Sea Wolf Marine Transp., LLC, 06 Civ. 1840, initially assigned to Judge Kaplan, is related to the case of Kiska Constr. Corp. USA v. G G Steel, Inc., 04 Civ. 9252, which has been proceeding before me since its inception. In accordance with a request from counsel for the parties in the 06 Civ. 1840 case, Judge Kaplan and I decided that that case should be transferred to my docket, in order to prevent any redundancies or duplication of efforts which might have resulted from two different judges handling the two distinct but related cases. The transfer has now been effected.
In order to more fully assess the status of both cases, I conducted a telephone conference on August 10, 2006 with counsel for all parties in both actions. During the conference, counsel for the parties in the 04 Civ. 9252 case informed the Court that they were in the process of finalizing a settlement agreement, and that they expected the case would be settled in its entirety, with the appropriate papers filed, within a few weeks.
While this settlement is being finalized, the Court directs counsel for the parties in the 06 Civ. 1840 case to continue to engage in good faith pretrial discovery, which counsel informed me has already begun. The scheduling order previously issued by Judge Kaplan is hereby vacated. The Court will issue a new scheduling order, after consultation with the parties, once the settlement of the 04 Civ. 9252 case has been finalized and all necessary papers filed by counsel.
Alternatively, although the Court is confident in the abilities of counsel to reach a settlement in the 04 Civ. 9252 case, the Court will proceed to issue a new scheduling order if it becomes clear that, contrary to expectations, the parties are unable to finalize a settlement in that case.
Whether any trial will be a jury trial or a bench trial, with the Court sitting in admiralty, will be determined at a later date.
It is SO ORDERED.