Free MEMORANDUM in Support - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:05-cv-00072-JJF

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE _________________________________________ ) ROYAL INDEMNITY COMPANY, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) PEPPER HAMILTON LLP, W. RODERICK ) GAGNE', FREED MAXICK & BATTAGLIA ) CPAs, McGLADREY & PULLEN LLP, and ) MICHAEL AQUINO, ) ) Defendants. ) _________________________________________ ) ) CHARLES A. STANZIALE, JR., ) Chapter 7 Trustee of Student Finance ) Corporation, ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) McGLADREY & PULLEN LLP and ) MICHAEL AQUINO, ) ) Defendants. ) _________________________________________ ) ) CHARLES A. STANZIALE, JR., ) Chapter 7 Trustee of Student Finance ) Corporation, ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) PEPPER HAMILTON LLP, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) _________________________________________ )

C.A. No. 05-165-JJF

C.A. No. 05-72-JJF

C.A. No. 04-1551-JJF

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) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Plaintiffs/Counterclaim Defendants, ) ) v. ) ) ROYAL INDEMNITY COMPANY, ) ) Defendant/Counterclaim Plaintiff. ) _________________________________________ )

MBIA INSURANCE CORPORATION and WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A. (f/k/a WELLS FARGO BANK MINNESOTA N.A.) as TRUSTEE OF SFC GRANTOR TRUST, SERIES 2000-1, SFC GRANTOR TRUST, SERIES 2000-2, SFC GRANTOR TRUST, SERIES 2000-3, SFC GRANTOR TRUST, SERIES 2000-4, SFC GRANTOR TRUST, SERIES 2001-1, SFC GRANTOR TRUST, SERIES 2001-2, SFC OWNER TRUST 2001-I, AND SFC GRANTOR TRUST, SERIES 2001-3,

C.A. No. 02-1294-JJF

PLAINTIFF ROYAL INDEMNITY COMPANY'S MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO COMPEL Plaintiff Royal Indemnity Company ("Royal") hereby submits this memorandum in support of its motion to compel. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND ARGUMENT On April 13, 2007, prior to the April 30, 2007 fact discovery deadline set forth in Amended Case Management Order #1, Royal noticed the Rule 30(b)(6) deposition of MBIA Insurance Corporation ("MBIA"), a non-party in these actions. That notice and corresponding subpoena required MBIA to designate and produce the requested witness for deposition on April 30, 2007 in New York City. 1 At that time, only one other deposition was scheduled for April 30, 2007. MBIA never objected to the substance of the notice but, through its counsel, requested that the deposition be pushed into the early part of May due to scheduling difficulties. At about

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A copy of the notice and subpoena is attached as exhibit A. -2-

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around this time, counsel for all the parties were involved in active discussions and in nearagreement regarding extending, by a week or two, the fact discovery deadline in order to complete depositions in a more orderly manner. Royal agreed to the accommodation requested by MBIA based on the commitment of MBIA to produce a 30(b)(6) witness in early May. In the meantime, however, the parties were not able to reach agreement on a short extension of the fact discovery period. As a result, counsel for Royal advised counsel for MBIA that the 30(b)(6) deposition needed to proceed as originally noticed on April 30, 2007. Although Royal stood ready and willing to proceed on that date, MBIA refused, claiming that this Court's Discovery Coordination Order allowed for no more than two depositions per day and that the April 30, 2007 schedule, by that point, was fully booked. In so stating, MBIA ignored that its 30(b)(6) deposition was properly the second deposition scheduled for April 30th. MBIA also refused to produce a witness in May, as its counsel had previously committed. MBIA now seeks to take advantage of Royal's willingness to accommodate MBIA's schedule in order to avoid its deposition altogether. That is neither fair nor appropriate under the circumstances here. Royal anticipates a short deposition, largely relating to evidentiary foundation and document authenticity issues, which should not take more than half a day. Accordingly, Royal respectfully requests that this Court relax the fact discovery deadline in order that the MBIA deposition can proceed.

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Dated: May 25, 2007

Respectfully submitted, ASHBY & GEDDES

Michael H. Barr Kenneth J. Pfaehler SONNENSCHEIN NATH & ROSENTHAL LLP 1221 Avenue of the Americas New York, New York 10020-1089 (212) 768-6700 (212) 768-6800 (fax) - and John Grossbart Steve Merouse SONNENSCHEIN NATH & ROSENTHAL LLP 7800 Sears Tower 233 S. Wacker Drive Chicago, Illinois 60606 (312) 876-8000 (312) 876-7934 (fax)
180956.1

_________________________________ Lawrence C. Ashby (#468) Philip Trainer, Jr. (#2788) Tiffany L. Geyer (#3950) Andrew D. Cordo (#4534) 222 Delaware Avenue, 17th Floor Wilmington, Delaware 19899 (302) 654-1888 (302) 654 2067 (Fax) Attorneys for Plaintiff Royal Indemnity Company

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