Board of Trustees of the Sheet Metal Workers Pension Trust of Northern California et al v. Wes-Co Industries et al

Filing 13

STIPULATION AND ORDER. Signed by Magistrate Judge Bernard Zimmerman on 12/10/2009. (bzsec, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 12/11/2009)

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CARTER CARTER FRIES & GRUNSCHLAG JAMES A. CARTER [SBN 33119] MICHELLE Q. CARTER [SBN 184005] 44 Montgomery Street, Suite 2500 San Francisco, CA 94104 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] Attorneys for Defendants WES-CO INDUSTRIES, FABPRO, WIN INDUSTRIES, ZIVORAD ZIVANOVIC, ZIVANOVIC FAMILY TRUST, Z-SQUARE PROPERTIES CO., APPLIED ADVANCED ENGINEERING COMPANY UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA ____________________________________

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) ) ) ) ) ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) vs . ) ) WES-CO INDUSTRIES, a California ) corporation; FABPRO, a California ) corporation; WIN INDUSTRIES, a ) California corporation; ZIVORAD ZIVANOVIC individually and as trustee of ) the ZIVANOVIC FAMILY TRUST, ) partners; and Z-SQUARE PROPERTIES ) ) COMPANY, a partnership; and APPLIED ADVANCED ENGINEERING COMPANY, ) a partnership, ) ) ) Defendants. ____________________________________ ) BOARD OF TRUSTEES, SHEET METAL WORKERS PENSION TRUST OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, BRUCE WORD TRUSTEE,

Case No. C 09 0847 BZ

STIPULATION TO EXTEND MEDIATION DEADLINE; ORDER

Counsel for Defendants has represented to counsel for Plaintiffs and the ADR Administrator that he has been in contact with attorneys in Washington, D.C., who represent the National Pension Fund ("NPF") in a lawsuit claiming withdrawal liability from the Defendants in this case, based upon the same collective bargaining agreement which gave rise to the withdrawal liabilities sought to be collected in this lawsuit. The NPF lawsuit is now pending in
STIPULATION TO EXTEND MEDIATION DEADLINE; ORDER Case No. C 09 0847 BZ

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the Eastern District of Virginia ("EDVA"). Defendants made a motion to transfer that case to this Court, but said motion was denied. Discovery has not yet commenced in the EDVA lawsuit. Counsel for Defendants has spoken to counsel for the NPF in the EDVA lawsuit and has been requested to furnish voluntary discovery in the hope that the NPF, after reviewing relevant documents, will decide to participate in the mediation in this case. It appears that the available assets will not be sufficient to satisfy the withdrawal liability claims of either or both of the trust funds which are seeking to collect that liability through litigation against these Defendants. Counsel for the Plaintiff in this case concurs in Defendants' counsel's opinion that the likelihood of settlement through mediation will be enhanced if the mediation in this case is postponed for a reasonable period of time in order to permit counsel for the NPF in the EDVA lawsuit to analyze the evidence and make a decision as to whether the NPF wishes to participate, formally or informally, in the mediation in this case. For the foregoing reasons, the parties wish to stipulate to postpone the mediation now scheduled on December 17, 2009, to January 26, 2010, at 11 a.m. IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED to extend the time for mediation to January 26, 2010, with all other dates set by the Court to remain in place. DATED: December 9, 2009 CARTER CARTER FRIES & GRUSNCHLAG

By: /s/James A. Carter James A. Carter Attorneys for Defendants DATED: December 9, 2009 ERSKINE & TULLEY

By: /s/Michael J. Carroll Michael J. Carroll Attorneys for Plaintiff IT IS SO ORDERED:

December 10, 2009 Dated: _______________________

________________________________________ The Honorable Bernard Zimmerman, Judge

STIPULATION TO EXTEND MEDIATION DEADLINE; ORDER Case No. C 09 0847 BZ