MEDIATION TEAM VERSION JUNE 14, 2017 1 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO 

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In re: PROMESA 

 Title III 

THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND 

MANAGEMENT BOARD FOR PUERTO RICO, 

as representative of No. 17 BK 3283-LTS 

THE COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO, (Jointly Administered) 

et al., 

 Debtors.1

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In re: PROMESA 

 Title III 

THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND 

MANAGEMENT BOARD FOR PUERTO RICO, 

as representative of No. 17 BK 3567-LTS 

THE PUERTO RICO HIGHWAYS AND 

TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (HTA), 

 Debtor. 

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1

 The Debtors in these Title III Cases, along with each Debtor’s respective Title III case 

number listed as a bankruptcy case number due to software limitations and the last four 

(4) digits of each Debtor’s federal tax identification number, as applicable, are the (i) 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Bankruptcy Case No. 17 BK 3283-LTS) (Last Four 

Digits of Federal Tax ID: 3481); and (ii) Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corporation 

(“COFINA”) (Bankruptcy Case No. 17 BK 3284) (Last Four Digits of Federal Tax ID: 

8474). 

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MEDIATION TEAM VERSION JUNE 14, 2017 2 

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In re: PROMESA 

 Title III 

THE FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT AND 

MANAGEMENT BOARD FOR PUERTO RICO, 

as representative of No. 17 BK 3566-LTS 

THE EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM 

OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE 

COMMONWEALTH OF PUERTO RICO (ERS), 

 Debtor. 

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ORDER AND NOTICE OF PRELIMINARY DESIGNATION OF MEDIATION TEAM 

. SETTING DEADLINE FOR OBJECTIONS TO MEMBERSHIP .

 Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 105, made applicable to these cases by section 301 of 

PROMESA, 48 U.S.C. § 2161, and to further the goal of the successful, consensual resolution of 

the issues raised in these debt adjustment proceedings, the Court hereby announces that it has 

designated a team of distinguished sitting federal judges who will be available to facilitate 

confidential settlement negotiations of any and all issues and proceedings arising in these cases. 

Each of these dedicated public servants has substantial judicial and other professional experience 

in complex financial matters, including insolvency proceedings, and will be designated, through 

the intercircuit assignment procedures of the Judicial Conference of the United States, to serve as 

a judicial mediator as needed in these cases. 

 The Mediation Team is led by Chief Judge Barbara Houser of the United States 

Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas. Judge Houser is joined by Circuit Judge 

Thomas Ambro of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Senior District Judge 

Nancy Atlas of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Bankruptcy 

Judge Christopher Klein of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of 

California, and Senior District Judge Victor Marrero of the United States District Court for the 

Southern District of New York. More detailed biographies of the mediators are attached to this 

Order and Notice. 

 Judge Houser will explain the mediation process in further detail at the Omnibus 

Hearing on June 28, 2017, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Thereafter, the Mediation Team will 

identify the issues to be addressed and the sequence in which those issues will be addressed after 

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MEDIATION TEAM VERSION JUNE 14, 2017 3 

consulting with all interested parties and after considering confidential mediation statements that 

will be requested from the parties. Mediation sessions will be held as necessary, and both the 

participants and the mediators will be bound by confidentiality. Participation in mediation 

sessions will be voluntary, although all interested parties will be required to engage in good faith 

in preliminary discussions with representatives of the Mediation Team and in the submission of 

confidential mediation statements, which will allow the Mediation Team to develop a list of 

issues to be addressed in mediation and the sequence in which those issues will be addressed 

after assessing the relative priority of the issues to a resolution of the cases. 

In order to insure the integrity of both the adjudicative process and the mediation process, 

the undersigned, as the judge presiding over these Title III cases and related proceedings, will 

not participate in the mediation process and the mediators will not provide any information about 

the positions taken by parties, or the substance of the mediation process, to the undersigned. The 

mediation process will remain confidential and separate from, and will proceed concurrently 

with, the adjudication of issues and proceedings in these Title III cases. 

 Any party in interest having an objection to the appointment of any member or 

members of the Mediation Team must lodge such objection confidentially, in writing, with the 

undersigned via email addressed to swaindprcorresp@nysd.uscourts.gov, no later than June 20, 

2017. Objections must not be filed on the public docket. The objection must state the reason 

for the objection and provide all relevant supporting material, if any. The undersigned will 

consider any timely objections and submissions and will make the final appointment of 

Mediation Team members prior to the June 28, 2017 Omnibus Hearing. No objections will be 

shared with any member of the Mediation Team. 

 Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 1(f) of the United States District Court for the District of 

Puerto Rico, this Order suspends the Court’s Local Civil Rule 83J for the specific Title III cases 

captioned above and their related adversary proceedings. 

 SO ORDERED. 

Dated: June 14, 2017 

 /s/ Laura Taylor Swain . 

 LAURA TAYLOR SWAIN 

 United States District Judge 

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