SEC v. Ripple: Fact discovery ends August 31? Probably not
“In my experience, anyone who thinks this case is settling anytime soon should reconsider”, said James K. Filan, an attorney familiar with the case.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, Ripple Labs, and the individual defendants, have filed a joint motion requesting a deadline extension for fact discovery.
This may come as a frustrating turn of events for all the stakeholders within the space, from XRP holders to digital asset exchanges, to fintech firms, partners, and clients, who want this lawsuit over as soon as possible.
The motion asks the court to permit the SEC to conduct depositions of Garlinghouse and Larsen after the close of the August 31, 2021 fact discovery deadline.
The requested change in the lawsuit agenda would extend the current expert discovery deadline from October 15, 2021 to November 12, 2021.
Both plaintiff and defendants are making such request due to the unexpected illness of an attorney for one of the parties
who was integral to the Larsen deposition, and the intervening vacation schedules of other attorneys.
“Accordingly, the parties respectfully request that the Court, for good cause shown, allow them to conduct two depositions
after the close of fact discovery, on September 14 and September 20, 2021. This is the parties’ first request to conduct depositions beyond the close of fact discovery”, the motion stated.
“If the Court denies Garlinghouse’s and Larsen’s pending motions to dismiss, the Court has provided that discovery between the SEC and the Individual Defendants may continue for another 120 days”.
The current lawsuit agenda – soon to be updated – had already seen fact discovery being extended by 60 days at the request of the SEC, despite Ripple’s opposition.
“The motion to strike and motion to intervene are still pending and the expert discovery deadline will be extended to November 12, 2021. In my experience, anyone who thinks this case is settling anytime soon should reconsider”, said James K. Filan, an attorney familiar with the case.
In addition to the deadline extension request, the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit has a new update to its agenda: a telephone conference is scheduled for August 31 to discuss the pending privilege dispute.
Earlier this month, attorneys James K. Filan and Jeremy Hogan discussed the likelihood of an earlier than expected settlement.
In a recent motion filed by the SEC, the plaintiff’s counsel stated that “there is no realistic prospect that the parties will fully resolve this case for several months, if not longer”.
The most recent events in the XRP lawsuit include Ripple attacking the SEC’s contradictions using William Hinman’s deposition.
Fact discovery is coming to a close and breaking news is likely to increase in number. The most recent news relevant to the lawsuit can be found here.
