Opinion
Civil Action No. 05-1779.
February 8, 2006
ORDER
AND NOW, this 7th day of February 2006, upon consideration of Plaintiff's Motion to Stay Proceedings or Enlarge Time Pending the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's Ruling Upon the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit's Petition to Certify Question of Law [Doc. #28], and after teleconference with counsel, the Court hereby GRANTS Plaintiff's Motion.
This matter is STAYED and placed in SUSPENSE until further order of the Court, but for no longer than six (6) months from the date of this Order. During this period of suspense, counsel shall notify the Court of any update regarding the status of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania's consideration of the certified question posed by the Third Circuit in Salley v. Option One Mortgage Corp., No. 04-4241, 2005 WL 3724871 (3d Cir. Oct. 20, 2005).
At the teleconference of today's date, counsel for Defendants voiced an objection to staying this case based upon possible dissimilar facts. However, the Court notes that Defendants previously indicated that the arbitration agreements here are "identical in form and content to the arbitration agreement" at issue in Montgomery v. Decision One Financial Network, Inc., No. 04-4551, 2005 WL 475427 (E.D. Pa. Mar. 1, 2005) (finding agreement not unconscionable, and therefore enforceable). Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss [Doc. #11] at 2 n. 1. The Third Circuit expressly cited Montgomery as one of the conflicting decisions within this Circuit giving rise to the need for certification to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. See Salley, 2005 WL 3724871 at *3 n. 7. Accordingly, to the extent that the agreement in Montgomery is identical to the agreements in this case, there are no factual differences that would justify a decision not to stay pending the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania's resolution of the certified question in Salley.
It is further ORDERED that, by agreement of counsel, discovery may continue during the period in which this matter is in suspense.
It is so ORDERED.