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I believe Looed's note said today's session was supposed to be 11 a.m Texas / 5 p.m. BST (6 hrs. difference). One day they might be on time for something - not today, though. The case on screen at the moment doesn't look as though it's finishing very soon.
Jonathansxx - I believe the call sign/channel we tune into is dedicated to Judge Weems' cases (I may be wrong). What's on at the moment is another of her cases. It's being held in a sports hall because of the space required due to covid requirements. Currently, they're choosing a jury for that case.
The judge said 4 p.m. there, so 10 p.m. here. (Or thereabouts).
Kippermanbike - I think she was referring to another trial that she had to adjudicate on that day.
As far as actual progress in any direction is concerned, today was disappointing. No questioning of witnesses as planned, and no actual evidence - all pushed back to another day. Maybe they're trying to keep ZM out of the witness box.
All we had was ZM's lawyer apparently trying to remove one of FRR's on what seemed like very vague grounds (I suppose it will take time to sort that out), and then using up more time by requesting yet more items of evidence (financial statements) from FRR. Good grief - how many cupboardsful do they need? If they have any actual defence of ZM, they didn't show it.
Unfortunately, to my amateurish eyes, this case looks like it could go on for a long time. Let's hope the judge can take hold of it and move it along. I believe the TRO finishes on Friday, so I suppose she will have to extend it again.
ZM's lady attorney (why do I keep thinking of Smaug?) had a lot of files being sent to her by FRR's team. Could be she needs time to go through them?
Oops!
Looed - 2.54 this a.m.
Sharealot - yep - if it goes to plan!
Well, it's after 17.00 in Texas, so the judge is probably packing up to go home. Good night, everyone.
I wrote it down as 14.00 - BST 20.00.
Oh well, that's it until, I think, 20.00 BST on Tuesday.
It was more interesting than watching the tele.
If BLD is our Bryce, then the fact that he has a screen on Zoom here indicates that he is an official member of the FRR legal team on this trial. I wonder if they're keeping him for ZM's cross-examination. Saving the best till last?
Thanks Looed. Apologies to you and everyone else.
Please don't panic. When Doc 48 came up a few days ago, you may remember it was to extend the schedule of the Texas (SN & ZM v Outrider) shares trial. Doc 48 was the new schedule listing all the different deadlines for parts of the trial. The new Doc. 49 is just the judge agreeing to that schedule, that's all.
For some reason, they like to list all the different little deadlines on the docket, and it makes it look more important (and worrying) than it actually is. Just routine, and no problem (makes a vice change!).
5. Movants desire this continuance in order to have the opportunity to fully explore possible settlement of this action. Moreover, in the interests of judicial efficiency, Movants wish to coordinate their discovery and general litigation efforts with their efforts in a related case currently pending in the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division (Case No. 3:19- cv-01996-RS). Movants therefore also request this continuance for additional time to coordinate discovery efforts in the two matters and to avoid unnecessary duplication of work. Movants therefore seek an extension of the pre-trial deadlines and a new trial date to provide the parties with adequate time to complete their settlement talks and to coordinate and complete discovery between the related proceedings.
6. In light of the above, Movants jointly request that the current Scheduling Order be modified to extend certain deadlines, as follows: Scheduling Order Item Current Deadline Proposed Deadline Plaintiff’s Deadline to Designate Experts and Expert Report Due July 16, 2021 October 1, 2021 Defendants’ Deadline to Designate Experts and Expert Report Due August 13, 2021 October 29, 2021 Discovery Deadline August 27, 2021 November 19, 2021
Deadline to file Dispositive and Daubert Motions November 19, 2021 February 18, 2022 Deadline to file Non-Dispositive Motions February 4, 2022 May 4, 2022 Joint Pretrial Order March 4, 2022 June 3, 2022 Final Pretrial Conference March 21, 2022 June 20, 2022 Bench Trial (3 days) March 28, 2022 June 27, 2022 WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Plaintiff Outrider Master Fund, LP and Defendant Steve C. Nicandros respectfully request that the Court grant this Motion to Amend Docket Control Order based on the requested schedule presented herein.
End of Doc.48.
There are also joint statement from both sides in Texas saying that ZM is still incommunicado (though his latest known address is given to the court, where details of this motion have been sent).
Finally, Doc. 89 is the signed approval by the judge for the above motion to be proceeded with.
There is also a doc 48-1 in California for the judge to sign approval. It hasn't been signed yet, though I'd be very, very surprised if it wasn't done pretty soon.
Page 1 of 2.
First of all, this Texas case is the one where SH/O were trying to take FRR shares from SN and ZM's personal holdings.
In both cases, these docs are to move the schedules of the respective court cases back by about 3 months.
The actual trial in Texas is now set for 27/06/22, and in California 16/05/22. The documents are very similar to those where the preceding schedules were requested.
The documents are pretty much identical for both courts - often word for word.
For those interested, there follows Doc. 48 for Texas - sorry if it appears cramped - that's how it copied. NB - 'Movants' =
SN & ZM (though, in this doc., it obviously only refers to SN)
Plaintiff Outrider Master Fund, LP (“Plaintiff”) and Defendant Steve C. Nicandros (“Nicandros”) (collectively “Movants”), by and through their respective counsel, file the foregoing Motion to Amend Scheduling Order (the “Motion”), and in support thereof show as follows: 1. On March 2, 2020, Plaintiff and Defendants Nicandros and Zaza Mamulaishvili (collectively “Defendants”) filed a Joint Discovery/Case Management Plan Under Rule 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure outlining proposed dates on which they anticipated discovery and other matters could be completed. [Dkt. 28]. An Initial Conference in this case was subsequently set to occur on March 16, 2020, but was cancelled by the Court on March 12, 2020. [Dkt. 36]. The Initial Conference was rescheduled to occur on May 14, 2020, but was also canceled amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. On April 17, 2020, the Court entered a Scheduling Order and Trial Settings on the docket. 2. On January 8, 2021, Plaintiff and Defendant Nicandros filed a Motion to Amend Scheduling Order. [Dkt. 46] That motion was granted on February 11, 2021 [Dkt 47], setting the deadlines in this case as outlined below.
3. Prior to and since the Court entered its February 11 Order, Movants have continued to diligently work to advance the proceeding. Plaintiff has served discovery requests on the Defendants and Defendant Nicandros has served discovery requests on Plaintiff and related non-parties. Movants have also discussed the potential for amicable resolutions, and those discussions continue.
4. However, circumstances surrounding the parties’ business operations have delayed efforts to fully discuss settlement and have culminated in the filing of this Motion.
To be continued.
That's old news, tweety - 19/10/20 - Hope's pleading (please give us the license so that we can look for someone to do the work!) fell on stony ground.
I don't know any whys and wherefores (and anything I said would be pure guesswork) but, in the absence of any clear activity, it looks as though the liquidators have run into the sand. The only definite sign of life was in the Caymans a while ago, and that seemed to end with the liquidators just keeping the door ajar in case anything happened in the future that they could use. Just my interpretation.
Mind you, If they've got to pay a team of expensive lawyers to do their business for them, then it's going to be a very expensive pea! (I could put some sort of joke in here - but people might think I was taking the pea).