Kos Media LLC et al v. Research 2000 et al

Filing 31

ORDER Case Management Statement due by 9/22/2011. Case Management Conference set for 9/29/2011 10:00 AM in Courtroom B, 15th Floor, San Francisco.. Signed by Judge Maria-Elena James on 7/22/2011. (cdnS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 7/22/2011)

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AND 9 DELAIR D. ALI, in pro per 10027 Sinnott Drive Bethesda, MD 20817 Defendant 11 ER H 10 RT 8 s na Jame ria-Ele dge Ma Ju R NIA Attorneys for Plaintiffs Kos Media and Markos Moulitsas Zúniga NO 7 FO 6 TED GRAN LI 5 RT U O 4 S DISTRICT TE C TA A 3 S 2 NATHAN DOOLEY (SBN 224331) Ndooley@cozen.com Adam C. Bonin (Pro hac vice) COZEN O'CONNOR 601 South Figueroa Street Suite 3700 Los Angeles, California 90017 Telephone: 213.892.7900 Toll Free Phone: 800.563.1027 Facsimile: 213.892.7999 UNIT ED 1 N F D IS T IC T O R 12 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 13 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 14 C SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 15 16 KOS MEDIA, LLC and MARKOS MOULITSAS ZÚNIGA, PLAINTIFFS, 17 18 19 20 21 22 VS. RESEARCH 2000 AND DELAIR D. ALI, DEFENDANTS. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No.: 3:10-CV-02894 MEJ________________________ JOINT STATUS REPORT CMC Hearing Date: July 28, 2011 Time: 10:00 AM Courtroom: B Complaint filed: June 30, 2010. 23 24 25 26 Plaintiffs Kos Media, LLC and MARKOS MOULITSAS ZÚNIGA (Plaintiffs), 27 and Defendant Delair D. Ali, in pro per, respectfully submit this Status Report 28 regarding the parties’ prospective settlement. 1 STATUS REPORT 1 BACKGROUND 2 1) The Parties 3 Plaintiff Kos Media LLC (“Kos Media”) is based in Berkeley California. It 4 owns and operates the DailyKos (http://www.dailykos.com), the largest progressive 5 community blog in the United States. Markos Moulitsas Zúniga is the founder, 6 publisher, and sole owner of Kos Media. Defendant Research 2000 is a polling firm 7 based in Olney, Maryland. Delair D. Ali (“Ali”) is the owner and CEO of Research 8 2000. 9 10 2) The Complaint 11 As part of its role as a news organization, Kos Media commissioned a number 12 of polls from Research 2000, beginning in September 2007. Kos Media and Research 13 2000, through Moulitsas and Ali, entered into a series of agreements through which 14 Kos Media would pay Research 2000 for political polling performed based on certain 15 professional standards, including requirements for the number of individuals surveyed 16 for each poll. Defendants breached their agreement with Kos Media by failing to 17 perform the polls which they were contracted to provide, instead falsifying the data 18 provided to the Kos Media. 19 The Complaint sets forth the following causes of action: 1) Breach of Contract; 20 2) Unfair Business Practices under Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200 et seq.; 3) Breach 21 of Implied Warranty; 4) Intentional Misrepresentation; 5) Negligent 22 Misrepresentation; 6) Constructive Fraud; and 7) Conversion. 23 24 25 3) Procedural History Plaintiffs filed suit on June 30, 2011. The Complaint was timely served on 26 Defendants. On behalf of himself, and Research 2000, Ali signed a waiver of service 27 on or about August 05, 2010. In the cover letter returning the waiver of service, Ali’s 28 2 STATUS REPORT 1 counsel stated that they would file a responsive pleading on or before September 07, 2 2010. 3 The parties made progress toward a settlement, and reached a general 4 understanding before Defendants’ responsive pleading was due. Plaintiffs notified the 5 Court of the pending settlement. On September 09, 2010, the deadline for filing a 6 responsive pleading was extended by Court Order and pursuant to stipulation. (Doc. 7 No. 9.) The settlement agreement was signed by the parties. 8 9 The matter was set for a Case Management Conference for December 02, 2010. (Id.) The Case Management Conference was continued to January 13, 2011 10 pursuant to stipulation and Court Order. (Doc. No. 11.) On December 21, 2010 11 counsel for Defendants moved to withdraw from the case. (Doc. No. 12.) That 12 Motion was granted on January 06, 2011, leaving Defendants unrepresented by 13 counsel. (Doc. No. 16.) The Case Management Conference was continued to March 14 10, 2011. (Doc. No. 18.) 15 In lieu of the Case Management Conference on March 10, 2011, the Court 16 issued an Order continuing the Case Management Conference to April 28, 2011. (Doc 17 No. 22.) The Court also entered an Order requiring that Research 2000 procure 18 counsel. (Doc. No. 22.) Also on April 28, 2011, the Court ordered the parties to file 19 a joint Status Report. (Id.) 20 Research 2000 failed to procure counsel. Because Research 2000 was not able 21 to procure counsel, the Court entered default as to Research 2000 on May 19, 2011 22 pursuant to Civil Local Rule 3-9(b). (Doc. No. 25.) In advance of a CMC hearing set 23 for June 09, 2011, the parties filed a Joint Status Report. In view of that Report, the 24 Court continued the CMC hearing to July 21, 2011 and ordered the parties to file the 25 instant Joint Report by July 21, 2011. (Doc. No. 29.) 26 27 28 3 STATUS REPORT 1 STATUS Plaintiffs have not yet moved for entry of default Judgment as to Research 2000 2 3 due to the Rule against piecemeal judgments. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b). With respect to Defendant Delair Ali, he sent a payment of $9,000 to Plaintiffs’ 4 5 counsel on or about April 12, 2011. Plaintiffs characterize this payment as progress. 6 While Mr. Ali was unable to make the further payment predicted by the last status 7 report, Mr. Ali has repeatedly insisted that he fully intends to make good on the 8 amounts required by the settlement agreement, and soon, which will in turn yield the 9 resolution both parties seek. While Plaintiffs have been unable to collect on additional 10 significant payments, and Mr. Ali has been unable to make payments at a rate which 11 either he or Kos Media would like, he continues to be cooperative and communicative 12 and Plaintiffs would prefer to avoid the additional expense of default proceedings at 13 this time. This Court’s last Order, and all previous Court Orders, were timely served on 14 15 Defendants. Counsel for Plaintiffs will file a request to appear telephonically at the hearing 16 17 scheduled for July 28, 2011. 18 // 19 // 20 // 21 // 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 // 27 // 28 // 4 STATUS REPORT 1 2 RECOMMENDATION In view of these facts, the parties respectfully submit that the Case Management 3 Conference be continued for 60 days to allow time for Plaintiff to make additional 4 payments and come current on the settlement. If the payment does not clear, or if a 5 substantial payment is not made within 60 days, Plaintiffs shall move for entry of 6 default as to Ali. 7 8 9 Date: July 21, 2011 *Emails authorizing signature attached as Exhibit A. 10 11 12 By: _______-/S/-___________ Delair Ali, in pro per 10027 Sinnott Drive Bethesda, MD 20817 13 14 15 16 Date: July 20, 2011 COZEN O'CONNOR 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 By: ______-/S/-_____________ NATHAN DOOLEY ADAM C. BONIN Attorneys for Plaintiffs COZEN O'CONNOR 601 South Figueroa Street Suite 3700 Los Angeles, California 90017 Telephone: 213.892.7900 Toll Free Phone: 800.563.1027 Facsimile: 213.892.7999 24 25 26 The CMC is continued to September 29, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. A joint cmc statement shall be filed by September 22. 27 28 5 STATUS REPORT

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