Securities and Exchange Commission v. Kara et al

Filing 74

STIPULATION AND ORDER CONTINUING Status Conference to 4/26/2010 03:00 PM in Courtroom 15, 18th Floor, San Francisco; Discovery stayed to 4/26/2010; Signed by Judge Marilyn Hall Patel on 2/12/2010. (awb, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 2/16/2010)

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MARC J. FAGEL (Cal. Bar No. 154425) ROBERT TASHJIAN (Cal. Bar No. 191007) [e-mail] MARK P. FICKES (Cal. Bar No. 178570) [e-mail] LLOYD FARNHAM (Cal. Bar No. 202231) [e-mail] Attorneys for Plaintiff SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 44 Montgomery Street, 26th Floor San Francisco, California 94104 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v.

Case No. CV 09-1880 MHP JOINT STATUS REPORT AND STIPULATED REQUEST TO CONTINUE STATUS CONFERENCE AND DISCOVERY DEADLINES

MAHER F. KARA, MICHAEL F. KARA, EMILE Y. JILWAN, ZAHI T. HADDAD, BASSAM Y. SALMAN, and KARIM I. BAYYOUK, [PROPOSED ORDER] Defendants.

At a status conference on November 16, 2009, the Court set certain discovery deadlines and scheduled a further status conference for February 22, 2010. The parties submit this Joint Status Report and jointly request that the status conference and the discovery deadlines be continued for approximately 60 days. A. STATUS OF THE CASE Three of the defendants in this civil action are also defendants in a related criminal case, U.S. v. Maher Fayez Kara, et al., No. CR 09-0417 MHP. Maher Kara, Michael Kara, and Emile Jilwan are accused of securities fraud based on the same factual allegations as those made in the Case No. CV 09-1880 MHP 1 JOINT STATUS REPORT AND STIPULATION

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Commission's civil complaint. By an order dated January 29, 2010, the Court set a criminal Trial and Motions Setting Conference on April 19, 2010. The defendants in the criminal action told the Court they need additional time to review evidence and pursue a resolution of the case. The Court has not yet set a trial date for either the criminal case or this related civil action. Discovery is underway in the civil case, and the Commission has produced documents obtained during its investigation, pursuant to initial disclosure obligations and defendants' document requests, and defendants have responded to the document requests served by the Commission. The parties have conducted two third-party depositions, and have agreed to reschedule others in order to attempt to resolve the claims in the civil case. B. STIPULATION TO CONTINUE STATUS CONFERENCE AND DISCOVERY The parties to the civil case agree that the status conference and other discovery should be continued for approximately 60 days, and that discovery should be stayed until a further status conference is held. This short delay in the discovery in this action will permit the parties to the criminal case to work toward a resolution of that case, and permit the Commission and the parties to discuss resolution of the civil claims. The parties stipulate to continuing the following dates, by 63 days: Event or deadline Further Status Conference Disclosure of witnesses, case in chief Discovery cut-off Plaintiff's expert designation and reports Defendants' expert designation and reports Plaintiff's rebuttal expert designation and reports Defendants' rebuttal expert designation and reports Dispositive motions to be heard Current Date February 22, 2010 May 10, 2010 June 7, 2010 July 5, 2010 July 21, 2010 August 6, 2010 August 13, 2010 September 27, 2010 Proposed Continued Date April 26, 2010 July 12, 2010 August 9, 2010 September 6, 2010 September 22, 2010 October 8, 2010 October 15, 2010 November 29, 2010

Case No. CV 09-1880 MHP

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JOINT STATUS REPORT AND STIPULATION

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Dated: February 11, 2009

/s/ Robert Tashjian ROBERT TASHJIAN Attorney for Plaintiff SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION /s/ George C. Harris GEORGE C. HARRIS Morrison & Foerster LLP Attorneys for Defendant MAHER KARA /s/ Ismail Ramsey ISMAIL RAMSEY Ramsey & Ehrlich LLP Attorneys for Defendant MICHAEL F. KARA /s/ William H. Green WILLIAM H. GREEN Attorneys for Defendant EMILE Y. JILWAN /s/ Patrick W. Blegen PATRICK W. BLEGEN Breen Pugh & Associates Attorneys for Defendant BASSAM Y. SALMAN /s/ Matthew F. Leitman MATTHEW F. LEITMAN Miller Canfield Paddock and Stone, PLC Attorneys for Defendant KARIM I. BAYYOUK GENERAL ORDER 45 ATTESTATION

In accordance with General Order 45, each of the signatories to this documents have concurred in its filing, and I shall maintain records to support these concurrences.

/s/ Robert Tashjian ROBERT TASHJIAN Attorney for Plaintiff SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Case No. CV 09-1880 MHP

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JOINT STATUS REPORT AND STIPULATION

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[PROPOSED] ORDER

The Court has considered the materials and papers submitted by counsel in this matter and for good cause shown, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED as follows: The Status Conference previously set for February 22, 2010 is vacated and rescheduled for April 26, 2010, at 3:00 p.m., with a joint status report to be filed one week prior to the conference. Discovery in this case shall be stayed until the Status Conference on April 26, 2010. The following discovery deadlines previously set by the Court are continued to the following dates:

April 26, 2010 July 12, 2010 August 9, 2010 September 6, 2010 September 22, 2010 October 8, 2010 October 15, 2010 November 29, 2010

Disclosure of witnesses, case in chief Discovery cut-off Plaintiff's expert designation and reports Defendants' expert designation and reports Plaintiff's rebuttal expert designation and reports Defendants' rebuttal expert designation and reports Dispositive motions to be heard

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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