Free Motion to Stay - District Court of Connecticut - Connecticut

Case 3:03-cv-00644-CFD Document 138 Filed 11/17/2005 Page 1 of 4
INITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
BRUCE CHARLES RYAN, RUSSELL WILLIAM )
NEWTON, ROBERT FITZPATRICK, and MERIT ) CASE NUMBER:
CAPITAL ASSOCIATES, INC., ) 3:03 CV 00644 (CFD)
)
Plaintiffs, )
)
vs. )
)
NATIONAL UNION FIRE INSURANCE )
COMPANY OF PITTSBURGH, PA., and )
AIG TECHNICAL SERVICES, INC., )
)
Defendants. )
DAVID W. GWYNN, RAQUEL GWYNN AND )
GWYNN FINANCIAL SERVICES, INC. ) CASE NUMBER:
) 3:03 CV II54 (CFD)
Plaintiffs, )
)
vs. )
)
NATIONAL UNION FIRE INSURANCE )
COMPANY OF PITTSBURGH, PA., and )
AIG TECHNICAL SERVICES, INC., ) November l7, 2005
)
Defendants. )
MOTION FOR STAY
Defendants National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa. ("National
Union") and AIG Technical Services, Inc., now known as AIG Domestic Claims, Inc.
("AIGTS") (hereinafter referred to collectively as "National Union"), by their attorneys Finn
Dixon & Herling LLP, hereby respectfully move this Court pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. 6(b)(l)
and 26(c), and D. CONN. L. CIV. R. 7(b), for a stay of the abovecaptioned and consolidated
actions for sixty (60) days, from November I7, 2005 to and including January 16, 2006, which

Case 3:03-cv-00644-CFD Document 138 Filed 11/17/2005 Page 2 of 4
shall stay all proceedings, including all discovery, and shall toll any applicable deadlines,
including deadlines set by the scheduling order dated October 18, 2005, and by operation of the
rules of this Court. In support of this motion, undersigned counsel states as follows:
1. This is Defendants’ Hrst request for a stay based upon the grounds set forth
herein.
2. Undersigned counsel certifies that he has advised counsel for plaintiffs of the facts
and circumstances set forth below. Peter Nolin, Esq., counsel for Ryan Plaintiffs responded that
he will seek his clients’ consent. Mario DiNatale, Esq., counsel for Gwynn Plaintiffs has not
responded. I believe he may be engaged in a trial or hearing.
3. Yesterday, the undersigned counsel for National Union, James R. Hawkins H, of
the law finn of Finn Dixon & Herling LLP, advised his clients, National Union and AIGTS, that
he has given notice under his iinn’s partnership agreement of his intention to resign as a partner.
Upon his resignation, Mr. Hawkins intends to pursue interests other than the practice of law, at
least for the foreseeable future.
4. National Union has determined that it is in its best interests to retain new counsel
other than Finn Dixon & Herling LLP to represent it in this action, and it has taken immediate
steps to identify and retain such counsel.
5. After National Union has retained new counsel, Mr. Hawkins and his colleagues
at Finn Dixon & Herling LLP will tile a motion to withdraw their appearances in this case
6. In order to ensure a smooth and orderly transition to new counsel, and to avoid
any prejudice to the parties, National Union seeks a stay of this case for 60 days. Once retained,
new counsel will require time to review the files, work papers and discovery in this case, and to
become conversant with the claims, factual allegations, and legal issues in this complex action.
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Case 3:03-cv-00644-CFD Document 133 Filed 11/17/2005 Page 3 of 4
7. The granting of the stay requested here will not unduly impede the progress in this
case or prejudice the parties. At this stage, Plaintiffs in the above-captioned Gwynn Action have
just filed their Second Amended Complaint, the response to which is not yet due. In the Ryan
Action, National Union has recently filed Counterclaims, which the Plaintiffs in that action
answered not long ago. Discovery remains open, depositions and document discovery are
ongoing, and the close of discovery has been extended until April 14, 2006. No trial date has
been set. In short, a relatively, short 60 day stay during the coming holiday season will not cause
any undue delay, and will ensure that the case transitions to new counsel and progresses in an
orderly and productive manner.
WHEREFORE, for the reasons stated above, National Union respectfully requests that
this Court grant a stay of the above-captioned and consolidated actions for sixty (60) days, from
November 17, 2005 to and including January 16, 2006, which shall stay all discovery and toll
any applicable deadlines, including deadlines set by the discovery Order dated October 18, 2005,
and by operation of the rules of this Court.
DEFENDANTS NATIONAL UNION FIRE
INSURANCE COMPANY OF PITTSBURQH, PA.
and AIG TECHNICAL SERVICES, /r/' (_
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James R. Hawkins II (ct00l28)
William M. Tong (ct25304)
` Finn Dixon & Herling LLP
One Landmark Square, Suite 1400
Stamford, CT 06901-2689
Tel: (203) 325-5000
Fax: (203) 348-5777
Email; [email protected]
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Case 3:03-cv-00644-CFD Document 138 Filed 11/17/2005 Page 4 of 4
CERTIFICATION
This is to certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was sent by United
States mail, first class, postage prepaid to the following this 17 th day of November, 2005:
Peter M. Nolin, Esq.
J ay H. Sandak, Esq.
Sandak Hennessey & Greco LLP
707 Summer Street
Stamford, CT 06905
(203) 425-4200
(203) 325-8608 (fax)
Mario DiNatale, Esq.
Jonathan M. Levine, Esq.
Silver Golub & Teitell LLP
l84 Atlantic Street
Stamford, CT 06904
(203) 325-449l
(203) 325-3769 (fax)
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James Hawkins II
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