130551837 0934792

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

TOMMY KASALO,

Plaintiff,

v.

TRIDENT ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC. and

OPS 10 LLC,

Defendants.

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Case No. 12-cv-02900

Judge Matthew F. Kennelly

Magistrate Judge Michael T. Mason

MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO COMPLETE DISCOVERY TO PERMIT

COURT TO RULE ON CERTIFIED QUESTIONS

Defendants, TRIDENT ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC (3Trident ́) and OPS 10 LLC

3OPS 10 ́), by their attorneys, David M. Schultz and Corinne C. Heggie, move to extend

discovery close of April 5, 2013 up to and including May 6, 2013, and in support thereof, state as

follows:

1. On April 18, 2012, plaintiff filed his Complaint alleging violations of the Fair

Debt Collection Practices Act (3FDCPA ́) (Dkt. #1). On July 23, 2012, plaintiff filed an

Amended Complaint. (Dkt. #21) Plaintiff filed a second amended pleading October 22, 2012.

(Dkt. #31)

2. On February 25, 2012, defendants filed a motion to extend the discovery close

date from March 5, 2013 to April 5, 2013 so the parties could complete oral discovery and

resolve any open issues with respect to written discovery. (Dkt. #47)

3. Defendants¶ motion to extend discovery was granted.

4. On March 13, 2013, defendants filed a motion compel. (Dkt. #50-51) At the

hearing, the parties reported on that defendants would produce their witnesses on March 21,

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2013 and March 22, 2013 in Georgia and that plaintiff would be deposed on March 26, 2013.

Defendants produced their witnesses.

5. Defendants deposed plaintiff at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, April 5, 2013 through no

fault of defense counsel. Plaintiff¶s counsel canceled his client¶s deposition on March 25, 2013.

(Exhibit C) Plaintiff¶s deposition had been previously noticed for March 1, 2013 and plaintiff¶s

counsel cancelled that deposition too.

6. At the deposition, plaintiff did not answer several questions. His lawyer asserted

the attorney-client privilege and instructed his client not to answer. Plaintiff took his lawyer¶s

advice and did not answer. The questions were certified.

7. While defendants are not in possession of plaintiff¶s deposition transcript, plaintiff

would not answer two questions that were posed in the interrogatories defendants propounded.

The two questions were: (1) please identify the date Plaintiff retained his counsel and (2) please

identify the date on which Plaintiff first engaged in two way verbal communication with his

present counsel. (Exhibit A, Plaintiff¶s Answers to Interrogatories, Numbers 14 & 15) On

January 13, 2013, plaintiff verified those discovery answers. (Exhibit A) While his lawyer

objected to those two interrogatories on relevancy, no objection based on the attorney client

privilege was made. (Exhibit A) Plaintiff served supplemental discovery answers a few hours

before his deposition. (Exhibit B) No attorney client privilege objection was asserted in

response to Interrogatories 14 and 15; however, the objection was asserted and plaintiff

instructed not to answer those questions later that afternoon.

8. Plaintiff was also asked if he signed a retainer agreement with his lawyer, when

he signed the retainer agreement, if he had paid legal bills in this case and if he had been sent

legal bills in this case. His lawyer asserted the attorney-client privilege and instructed his client

not to answer these questions. Plaintiff took his lawyer¶s advice and did not answer. The

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questions were certified. There could have been other questions certified; however, without the

transcript, defense counsel cannot confirm or recall what the other questions were.

9. Defendants seeks to extend the discovery close date specifically to obtain a

written copy of plaintiff¶s deposition transcript, which has already been ordered on an expedited

basis, prepare and present the appropriate motion related to the certified questions to the court

and obtain answers to the certified questions from plaintiff under oath.

10. This motion is not brought for purposes of delay or harassment. The additional

time up to and including May 6, 2013, will permit defendants¶ to prepare the appropriate motion

regarding the questions certified at plaintiff¶s deposition taken at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, April 4,

2013.

11. Given the fact that discovery closes on April 5, 2013, defense counsel did not seek

plaintiff¶s counsel¶s consent to this motion and the relief sought herein

WHEREFORE, Defendants, TRIDENT ASSET MANAGEMENT, LLC and OPS 10

LLC, respectfully request this Court grant their Motion and enter an order extending the

discovery close date from April 5, 2013 to May 6, 2013 to permit defendants to obtain a written

copy of plaintiff¶s deposition transcript, prepare and present the appropriate motion related to the

certified questions to the court and obtain answers to the certified questions from plaintiff under

oath.

Respectfully submitted,

By: s/ Corinne C. Heggie

One of the Attorneys for Trident and OPS 10

David M. Schultz

Corinne C. Heggie

HINSHAW & CULBERTSON LLP

222 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 300

Chicago, IL 60601-1081

312-704-3000

(f) 312-704-3001

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dschultz@hinshawlaw.com

cheggie@hinshawlaw.com

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, Corinne C. Heggie, an attorney, certify that I shall cause to be served a copy of the

Motion for Extension of Time to Complete Discovery upon the following individual(s) as

indicated below on this 5th day of April, 2013.

 ̨ CM/ECF

® Facsimile

® Federal Express

® Mail

® Messenger

Attorneys for Plaintiff(s)

Mario Kris Kasalo

The Law Office of M. Kris Kasalo, Ltd.

20 North Clark Street

Suite 3100

Chicago, IL 60602

s/Corinne C. Heggie

One of the Attorneys for Defendants

David M. Schultz (Atty. No. 6197596)

Corinne C. Heggie

Attorneys for Defendant

HINSHAW & CULBERTSON LLP

222 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 300

Chicago, Illinois 60601-1081

Phone No: (312) 704-3000

Fax No: (312) 704-3001

E-mail Address: dschultz@hinshawlaw.com

 cheggie@hinshawlaw.com

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