Ripple files a request for an extension of time, until Monday, August 16, 2021. The firm requested the extension to respond to the SEC’s emergency motion regarding the Slack communications discovery dispute.
Matthew Solomon sent a letter to Judge Sarah Netburn about a discovery dispute between Ripple and SEC with respect to documents withheld by the SEC. The agency hasn’t handed over the requested documents. The Judge had insisted on handing over the documents. The SEC claims there is deliberative process privilege. The parties want to expose their arguments in 8-page letters addressing the issue.
“Ripple’s data error and refusal to produce most documents has already been highly prejudicial to the SEC. Among other things, the SEC has deposed 11 Ripple witnesses using incomplete records of their communications,” the filing added.
Commenting on the letter that should help move the discovery forward after months in a deferred state, attorney Jeremy Hogan said:
“About. Time. In this litigation, 8 pages is a large brief so seems like some complicated privilege issues have arisen. I am interested to see what they might be. Cutting it close: this needs approval, then filing, then a reply, then obtain a hearing date – all before the 31st!”
“Well, because fact discovery ends in just 3 weeks, and the SEC gets 5 days to respond, I would think that Ripple would file a letter in the next day or two. The issue has no doubt been brewing for some time”, added attorney James K. Filan.
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SEC claimed that the defendants already have knowledge of the sensitive information Slack data possesses against it in the case. And are therefore avoiding going through with discovering the messages.
As per SEC’s request, the judge extended the fact discovery period to 60 days. Thus altered the lawsuit agenda as a whole. At the time, Ripple opposed arguing the SEC had sufficient time to investigate this matter before filing suit. This was also because Ripple wants to move for summary judgment as soon as possible.
Judge Netburn told the plaintiff to turn over the documents twice already, but not a single document has been delivered. It should be noted that the Judge can order monetary sanctions or even dismiss the case altogether.
