decoration decoration
Stories

GROKLAW
When you want to know more...
decoration
For layout only
Home
Archives
Site Map
Search
About Groklaw
Awards
Legal Research
Timelines
ApplevSamsung
ApplevSamsung p.2
ArchiveExplorer
Autozone
Bilski
Cases
Cast: Lawyers
Comes v. MS
Contracts/Documents
Courts
DRM
Gordon v MS
GPL
Grokdoc
HTML How To
IPI v RH
IV v. Google
Legal Docs
Lodsys
MS Litigations
MSvB&N
News Picks
Novell v. MS
Novell-MS Deal
ODF/OOXML
OOXML Appeals
OraclevGoogle
Patents
ProjectMonterey
Psystar
Quote Database
Red Hat v SCO
Salus Book
SCEA v Hotz
SCO Appeals
SCO Bankruptcy
SCO Financials
SCO Overview
SCO v IBM
SCO v Novell
SCO:Soup2Nuts
SCOsource
Sean Daly
Software Patents
Switch to Linux
Transcripts
Unix Books

Gear

Groklaw Gear

Click here to send an email to the editor of this weblog.


You won't find me on Facebook


Donate

Donate Paypal


No Legal Advice

The information on Groklaw is not intended to constitute legal advice. While Mark is a lawyer and he has asked other lawyers and law students to contribute articles, all of these articles are offered to help educate, not to provide specific legal advice. They are not your lawyers.

Here's Groklaw's comments policy.


What's New

STORIES
No new stories

COMMENTS last 48 hrs
No new comments


Sponsors

Hosting:
hosted by ibiblio

On servers donated to ibiblio by AMD.

Webmaster
More filings in SCO's bankruptcy and a Boies Schiller lawyer for the Novell trial
Wednesday, April 09 2008 @ 11:12 PM EDT

Here you go, more mountains of paper in the bankruptcy. Dorsey & Whitney line up for their money, for the fifth time, and in SCO v. Novell a Boies Schiller associate, Mauricio Gonzalez, whom we've previously seen in the Red Hat case, signs on to the team in the Novell case, which likely indicates he'll be there for trial. He's a litigator. They'll need someone able to say ridiculous things believably and with a straight face, as he did in the teleconference with the Red Hat judge back in January of 2006, when she expressed concern that IBM was going so slowly. Remember this? I'm sure it will make you smile:
MR. GONZALEZ: Your Honor, this is Mauricio Gonzalez for the SCO Group. According to the scheduling order that's now in effect, we're scheduled to go to trial in February 2007, and Judge Kimball has been pretty, pretty solid in keeping us to that schedule, so from our point of view, we would expect to go to trial on that date, barring any other unusual occurrences, of course....

THE COURT: All right. I guess I just wanted to make sure that you all were confident that this case was going to resolve. I mean, we're still more than a year a from a trial date.

MR. GONZALEZ: Your Honor, Mauricio Gonzalez again.

THE COURT: Yes?

MR. GONZALEZ: Our fact discovery deadline on our claims is this Friday, and then we have a March discovery deadline in the IBM case on defenses to claims. And then the Court contemplates that in July we would have dispositive motions and then again in February would be the trial, and the Court has really, you know, gone out of its way to prevent anything that would delay that schedule, so, again, we've come a long way and I think now that we really have the trial in sight, I think it makes sense to keep things as they've been with the Red Hat case.

THE COURT: All right all right. Well, I'm willing to stay the course, but if that trial date gets moved even a week, someone needs to let me know, and I'm going to ramp this thing up because this is an old case that I get to report to Washington because I've got an old case on my docket.

MR. GONZALEZ: Sure.

Hahahaha. "Sure." I love the Boies Schiller guys. And I'm sure he's been letting her know that it didn't happen exactly like that in 2007 after all. Or 2008, for that matter, so far. And why.

He was born in Quito, Ecuador, and to tell you the truth, I have never met anyone from Ecuador I didn't like, and I've heard Quito has the reputation of being a culture with a dominant strain of happiness and fun, and in fact he has a great face, don't you think? He looks charming. In the litigator kind of way. I see from his filing he originally began his practice in California. Those laid-back California dudes. He studied filmmaking first. Hmm. This trial is going to be a gas. I hope he gets to speak, not just help.

Bankruptcy filings:

431 - Filed & Entered: 04/07/2008
Certificate of No Objection
Docket Text: Certificate of No Objection Regarding Fourth Monthly Fee Application of Dorsey & Whitney LLP (related document(s)[393] ) Filed by Dorsey & Whitney LLP. (Schnabel, Eric)

432 - Filed & Entered: 04/07/2008
Certificate of Service
Docket Text: Certificate of Service Filed by Dorsey & Whitney LLP. (Schnabel, Eric)

433 - Filed & Entered: 04/08/2008
Application for Compensation
Docket Text: Monthly Application for Compensation for the Period February 1, 2008 through February 29, 2008 Filed by Dorsey & Whitney LLP. Objections due by 4/28/2008. (Attachments: # (1) Exhibit A # (2) Exhibit B # (3) Exhibit C # (4) Exhibit D # (5) Notice of Fifth Monthly Fee Application) (Schnabel, Eric)

434 - Filed & Entered: 04/09/2008
Certificate of Service
Docket Text: Certificate of Service Certificate of Service of Fifth Monthly Fee Application Filed by Dorsey & Whitney LLP. (Schnabel, Eric)

435 - Filed & Entered: 04/09/2008
Affidavit/Declaration of Service
Docket Text: Affidavit/Declaration of Service of Epiq Bankruptcy Solutions, LLC, Regarding Transfer of Claim (related document(s)[423] ) Filed by The SCO Group, Inc.. (Werkheiser, Rachel)

436 - Filed & Entered: 04/09/2008
Transfer/Assignment of Claim
Docket Text: Transfer/Assignment of Claim. Transfer Agreement 3001 (e) 2 Transferor: Randd Strategic Solutions LLC To Argo Partners. Filed by Argo Partners. (Gold, Matthew)

SCO v. Novell filings:

512 - Filed & Entered: 04/08/2008
Terminated: 04/09/2008
Motion for Admission Pro Hac Vice
Docket Text: MOTION for Admission Pro Hac Vice of Mauricio A. Gonzalez, Registration fee $ 15, receipt number 4681023661, filed by Counter Defendant SCO Group, Plaintiff SCO Group. (Attachments: # (1) Exhibit A, # (2) Exhibit B, # (3) Text of Proposed Order)(Hatch, Brent)

513 - Filed & Entered: 04/09/2008
Order on Motion for Admission Pro Hac Vice
Docket Text: ORDER granting [512] Motion for Admission Pro Hac Vice of Mauricio A. Gonzalez for SCO Group. Attorneys admitted Pro Hac Vice may download a copy of the District of Utahs local rules from the courts web site at http://www.utd.uscourts.gov. Signed by Judge Dale A. Kimball on 4/09/08. (jwt)


  


More filings in SCO's bankruptcy and a Boies Schiller lawyer for the Novell trial | 70 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
Corrections thread
Authored by: Aladdin Sane on Wednesday, April 09 2008 @ 11:14 PM EDT
Please place corrections to the story here.

---
Form follows function.

[ Reply to This | # ]

[NP] Discussion of Groklaw News Picks
Authored by: Aladdin Sane on Wednesday, April 09 2008 @ 11:16 PM EDT
This thread is for the discussion of Groklaw News Picks.

---
Form follows function.

[ Reply to This | # ]

[OT] Off Topic comments
Authored by: Aladdin Sane on Wednesday, April 09 2008 @ 11:18 PM EDT
Any comment not on the topic of the current story can be made by replying to this one.

---
Form follows function.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Appearing for BSF?
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, April 09 2008 @ 11:28 PM EDT
Aside from this guy, remember that David Boies officially entered the scene in
the 'original' trial preparation phase, before the last-minute bankruptcy
filing.

Should we expect to see Boies, then? I tend to doubt it, although McBride and
the SCO guys might be wondering how long he'll linger offstage in the wings.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Billing for billing?
Authored by: bstone on Thursday, April 10 2008 @ 01:01 AM EDT
In Bankruptcy filing 433 Exhibit D, the Dorsey & Whitney application for
compensation, I notice they're using a $215/hr lawyer working on "capture
unbilled time". They're using a lawyer and charging his full rate to
straighten out their own prior months billing records?

[ Reply to This | # ]

PJ's anecdotes
Authored by: th80 on Thursday, April 10 2008 @ 01:01 AM EDT
PJ, you crack me up! You breath such life into the law; you give it that human
element. And your insights make the law so enjoyable and accessible. I have
learned so much over the past few years.

Since I began reading Groklaw I graduated from college, began work on a graduate
degree and changed jobs 3 times (the US job market for IT is surprisingly good
considering the economy =) ). Every step of the way, Groklaw was there keeping
me informed.

I know there's going to be a day when you decide to retire from Groklaw. And
when you do there will be a void that's going to be hard to fill. =)

[ Reply to This | # ]

Dorsey & Whitney and their Payments
Authored by: sproggit on Thursday, April 10 2008 @ 01:30 AM EDT
This business of paying Dorsey and Whitney with such regularity really does
serve to illustrate the absurdity of these bankruptcy proceedings - a bit like
putting a big neon sign over the courthouse.

On the one hand, we should give that firm the benefit of the doubt. They were
brought in only for the bankruptcy proceedings and, one should presume, for
their special skills in that arena. So in that context there is space enough to
cut them a little slack, especially when you factor in the inevitable bad
experiences that they must have had working this market sector, when companies
for whom they have done work have gone Chapter 7 right under their corporate
nose. So to that extent you can possibly understand why they are so keen to get
their cash each month.

On the other hand, I find it difficult to believe that a law firm practicing in
this space doesn't itself know all the tricks in the book and cannot spot
unusual behavior from clients a mile away. I also find it difficult to believe
that they can help a client file such wildly defective reorganisation plans with
a straight face. We note that their invoices all tend to look "present and
correct" on a monthly basis...

So on balance, and although there is absolutely no evidence for it anywhere, I
wonder if there is any prior relationship between this law firm and a member or
two of SCOs board? Could there be a connection there somewhere? I really
wouldn't be surprised.


Meanwhile, there is a long line of creditors, all waiting patiently for money
owed to them, forced to stand and watch while the cash reserves of a company in
terminal decline are practically rushed into the hands of lawyers.


I know we've raised this point before, but if you consider that SCO filed for
bankruptcy directly before the 2007 trial date. We're now in the middle of April
2007 and the trial still hasn't started. So in other words they managed to cut
themselves another 6 months of slack, *and* burn their way through another huge
slice of cash.

And of course pay themselves large sums of money in the process.





---
Windoze: a 32 bit Extension to a 16 bit Graphical Shell of an 8 bit O/S first
coded for a 4 bit CPU by a 2-bit company that can't stand 1 bit of competition.

[ Reply to This | # ]

Mr Gonzales' bio
Authored by: PolR on Thursday, April 10 2008 @ 01:59 AM EDT
I love Gonzales' bio on BSF's site.
Mauricio A. Gonzalez's main practice areas are litigation and intellectual property.

While at Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, Mr. Gonzalez has participated in the representation of a technology company involved in a series of high-profile lawsuits over the rights to the UNIX code and operating systems.

I wonder who that technology company might be. Too bad they don't dare name it... :)

[ Reply to This | # ]

Groklaw © Copyright 2003-2013 Pamela Jones.
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners.
Comments are owned by the individual posters.

PJ's articles are licensed under a Creative Commons License. ( Details )