# TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

HERITAGE REPORTING CORPORATION Official Reporters 1220 L Street, N.W., Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20005

- 4018 (202) 628

- 4888 contracts@hrccourtreporters.com IN THE MATTER OF: ) ) FDMS No. FAA

- 2011

- 0069 DEAN INTERNATIONAL, INC. )

Pages: 1 through 30

Place: Washington, D.C.

Date: October 26, 20111

Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628

- 4888 FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION

IN THE MATTER OF: ) ) FDMS No. FAA

- 2011

- 0069 DEAN INTERNATIONAL, INC. )

Suite 600 1220 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The parties met, pursuant to the notice, at

1:31 p.m.

BEFORE: HONORABLE J.E. SULLIVAN Administrative Law Judge

APPEARANCES: (Via Telephone)

On behalf of Complainant :

CHRISTOPHER R. STEVENSON, Esquire Office of Regi onal Counsel, ASO

- 7 Southern Region Federal Aviation Administration P.O. Box 20636 Atlanta, Georgia 30320 (404) 305

- 5200

On Behalf of Respondent :

STUART A. GOLDSTEIN, Esquire Goldstein & Sordo 9350 South Dixie Highway, 10th Floor Mia mi, Florida 33156 (305) 670

- 12222

Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628

- 4888 P R O C E E D I N G S 1

(1:31 p.m.) 2

JUDGE SULLIVAN: We're on the record in the 3

matter of Dean International, Inc. This is FAA Docket 4

No. FAA

- 2011

- 0069. Today is Wednesday, October 26, 5

2011, and the parties have rec onvened for a 6

continuation of the motion conference that began 7

earlier this week on Monday, October 24, 2011. 8

The Federal Aviation Administration is 9

represented by its attorney, Christopher R. Stevenson. 10

Dean International, Inc. is represented by its 11

at torney, Stuart A. Goldstein. Also present in the 12

Office of Hearings with this Administrative Court is 13

Attorney Priya Krisha, who is sitting as an observer 14

only today. Her first name is spelled P

- R

- I

- Y

- A, last 15

name is spelled K

- R

- I

- S

- H

- A. 16

Good afternoon , counsel. 17

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Good afternoon, Judge. 18

MR. STEVENSON: Good afternoon, Your Honor. 19

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Thank you for reappearing 20

today. We had last left off on October 24, 2011, with 21

a question about the request for Production No. 9. 22

Mr. Ste venson, you were going to try and craft a more 23

definitive statement of that particular request and 24

share it with Mr. Goldstein before we reconvened 253

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- 4888 today. Did you have an opportunity to do that? 1

MR. STEVENSON: Yes, I did, Your Honor. 2

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. And have the two of 3

you reached an agreement about how that particular 4

request could be further limited or made specific? 5

MR. STEVENSON: I think we mostly have, and 6

Mr. Goldstein can correct me if I'm mistaken about 7

this. There was one aspect o f it that Mr. Goldstein 8

thought was a bit confusing, but the suggestion that I 9

had that might seem workable, what I'm trying to do is 10

without knowing what exact sort of documents may have 11

been created write this so we get anything that Dean 12

International w rote or received about the potential 13

violation aspects of these flights while not having 14

them have to cough up every sort of random financial 15

record that has something to do with the flight. I 16

mean, I don't need to read those at this point. I 17

don't want to make them produce them. 18

So, if Mr. Goldstein after he has a chance 19

to consult with his client would just come to me and 20

say, well, this is the sort of document that we have, 21

is that the sort of thing that falls in here, and that 22

way, then we can just say yes or no, and that way he 23

doesn't have to produce it if it's not something we 24

don't want. And then it's been clarified that, yes, 254

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- 4888 that is something we were asking for if it is. But 1

I'm not sure, and again, Mr. Goldstein, please correct 2

me if I'm mis stating something. 3

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Well, before I turn to Mr. 4

Goldstein, let me ask you this, Mr. Stevenson. Do you 5

have any language that's different than the language I 6

have before me in writing regarding Request for 7

Production No. 9? 8

MR. STEVENSON : Yes, Your Honor. 9

JUDGE SULLIVAN: What exactly is it that you 10

want to have me consider for purposes of this motion 11

to compel? 12

MR. STEVENSON: Okay. What I have, and I 13

apologize, it's a bit wordy, except for privileged 14

documents to or from your atto rney, please produce any 15

and all documents generated as a result of the 16

allegedly improper aspects of the flights identified 17

in the complaint, including but not limited to any 18

disciplinary or employment action taken against an 19

employee or independent contr actor in whole or in part 20

because of the flight, documents distributed to one or 21

more Dean International students about the specific 22

flights or about compliance with the applicable 23

inspection requirements or documents submitted to Dean 24

International by an employee, independent contractor 255

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- 4888 or student concerning the flights or compliance with 1

the inspection requirements or any other communication 2

to or from Dean International about the flight. 3

And then at the end I noted Dean 4

International need not produce a ny such document that 5

is a communication to or from the FAA. 6

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Mr. Stevenson, are you 7

talking about this particular timeframe dating back to 8

February 28, 2010, and being prospective up through 9

today's date, or do you have a shorter time pe riod in 10

mind? 11

MR. STEVENSON: Well, I guess I did not have 12

a specific shorter time period in mind. However, I 13

guess my presumption had been that as a practical 14

matter any such document would have been created 15

either around the time of the flights or rig ht after 16

Dean International had been informed by the FAA of the 17

potential violations. I mean, I imagine that anything 18

that has been created more recently than that is 19

probably going to fall into either the attorney

- client 20

or work product privileges. 21

JUD GE SULLIVAN: If we look at the other 22

requests for production, we're looking at an outside 23

date of May 21, 2010 through May 31, 2010 depending on 24

which request for production we read. 256

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- 4888 MR. STEVENSON: Yes. 1

JUDGE SULLIVAN: So do you have a position 2

abou t whether one of those dates might be applicable 3

or if another date close in time to the three 4

violations pending would be preferable? 5

MR. STEVENSON: Well, I don't think that 6

those dates would be appropriate because those dates 7

are based on the time whe n the violations occurred 8

whereas these documents that we're asking for in this 9

request for production would all necessarily have been 10

created at the tail

- end of or after that timeframe. 11

JUDGE SULLIVAN: You had indicated on 12

October 24, 2011, that you st arted to get involved in 13

this particular case prior to it coming to this office 14

around September 2010, is that correct? 15

MR. STEVENSON: I believe if I recall 16

correctly, September 2010 was when we issued the 17

original notice of proposed civil penalty. 18

JU DGE SULLIVAN: If we look at Request for 19

Production No. 9 as you have crafted it today, if 20

there was an end period of time of September 21, 2010, 21

would that meet your needs? 22

MR. STEVENSON: I guess I don't think so 23

because let's say, for example, that in September 2010 24

we issued the notice and then in October 2010 that 257

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- 4888 resulted in Dean International turning around and at 1

that point in time saying something to its instructors 2

or its students or its dispatcher about this matter 3

that was prompted by them rec eiving the notice. I 4

would want that to be included in the scope of the 5

request. 6

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Thanks. I 7

understand what your interest is. 8

Mr. Goldstein, turning to you, can you tell 9

me if you recall about when your client started 10

seeking s ome consultation about this case. 11

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Probably not without going 12

back and looking at the case file. But I know that I 13

was not involved in it when Mr. Dean on his own 14

responded in writing to the notice of proposed civil 15

penalty that he sent t o the original counsel. I'm not 16

sure if his response was to the letter of 17

investigation. I'm not even sure. I can find out, 18

but if you'll give me a moment. 19

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Well, I think you can 20

answer the next question without taking a look at your 21

f ile. In terms of this particular request for 22

production, do you take any position about an end date 23

for the request? 24

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Well, I think going to 258

Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628

- 4888 September is way too long. I mean, these are 1

documents that the FAA is seeking with regard to th is 2

flight. I mean, I told Mr. Stevenson that basically 3

what he described to you is what our conversation was, 4

that I was okay and we'd see what we had and then he 5

and I would discuss it. But I do think September is 6

way beyond anything that's going to be relevant. 7

JUDGE SULLIVAN: In your opinion, what would 8

be a preferred end date from your client's 9

perspective? 10

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Well, a date close to the 11

three dates that are involved in the allegations which 12

were in February and March, is that not corr ect, 13

February and March. So I would say probably the end 14

of March. 15

JUDGE SULLIVAN: The dates I have before me 16

are February 28, 2010; March 1, 2010; and April 22, 17

2010. I have three different violation dates. 18

MR. GOLDSTEIN: April 22 is the latest da te. 19

So I would say that I don't want to hurt my client's 20

case because they did take some affirmative action to 21

correct some concerns that the FAA had and those might 22

fall within the scope of this request. I'm not trying 23

to have it both ways either, but i t's hard to answer 24

your question. 259

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- 4888 JUDGE SULLIVAN: So, in terms of this 1

particular request for production, it's possible as I 2

hear from you that there could be some things coming 3

in that you wouldn't necessarily want to have admitted 4

at the hearing. Is that what I'm hearing from you? 5

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Yes, on the grounds of 6

relevance. And there are some things that I would 7

want to come in that show a compliant attitude that 8

the company took in response to the concerns raised by 9

the FAA that may have occ urred after say the end of 10

May. I just don't know at this moment. 11

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Sure. The fact that you 12

disclosed them under a request for production doesn't 13

necessarily mean that they're admissible, so I want to 14

make sure that that's understood by everybody. 15

MR. GOLDSTEIN: I understand, but what I was 16

concerned about, Your Honor, is the opposite of that. 17

In other words, if we put an end date on it, say the 18

end of May, and my client took some action to show 19

compliance or to show the FAA it was in compliance 20

that was after the end of May, I wouldn't want to be 21

precluded from introducing those. 22

JUDGE SULLIVAN: I see. 23

MR. GOLDSTEIN: And of course we would 24

produce those to the FAA because we'd have to do. 2510

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- 4888 We'd say these are the exhibits. So th at was my 1

concern. 2

JUDGE SULLIVAN: So, from your perspective, 3

Mr. Goldstein, it sounds like you don't have a strong 4

objection to keeping this open

- ended in the event that 5

you and Mr. Stevenson can work collaboratively on it 6

after this conference is over

. 7

MR. GOLDSTEIN: I think Mr. Stevenson 8

described our conversation accurately. Let me take a 9

look and see what we have and describe it to him, and 10

then we'll be dealing with real documents and he and I 11

can work it out. And if not, we'll have to resort to 12

getting back with you, Your Honor. 13

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. So essentially at 14

this point it sounds like both parties would prefer to 15

have no timeframe specifically established, but if 16

there's problems in the future, then Mr. Stevenson 17

and/or Mr. Goldst ein can move for relief. Would that 18

be a fair summary, Mr. Stevenson? 19

MR. STEVENSON: That sounds fair, Your 20

Honor. 21

JUDGE SULLIVAN: And Mr. Goldstein? 22

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Yes, Your Honor. 23

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Then I will direct 24

the Respondent to a nswer the amended request for 2511

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- 4888 production that the FAA has read into the record 1

today. That basically concludes all of the disputed 2

discovery issues according to my notes. 3

Mr. Stevenson, is there anything else out 4

there that we haven't addressed in terms of 5

interrogatories or requests for production? 6

MR. STEVENSON: I believe that we have 7

addressed everything that was raised in the FAA's 8

motion. 9

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. And, Mr. Goldstein, 10

is there anything else that you know of that has not 11

yet been a ddressed in terms of interrogatories and/or 12

requests for production? 13

MR. GOLDSTEIN: No, I believe we've covered 14

it, Your Honor. 15

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Then the next 16

question, and this will be to you, Mr. Goldstein, is 17

what timeframe does the Responde nt need in terms of 18

following the Court's directives for answering the 19

interrogatories as ordered on October 24, 2011, and 20

the requests for production which we've discussed both 21

on October 24, 2011, and today? 22

MR. GOLDSTEIN: I would ask for 45 days and 23

hopefully wouldn't need anywhere near that time, but I 24

don't like to box myself in. But may I ask, Your 2512

Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628

- 4888 Honor, are you going to issue a written order? 1

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Yes, I will. 2

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Okay. All right. 3

JUDGE SULLIVAN: But just so you k now, it 4

won't be as detailed as what we went through. For 5

example, I can tell you I have got something drafted. 6

For example, I will say things like I'll identify 7

each and every interrogatory, note that it was granted 8

or granted with limitations and then generally 9

identify what the order was. 10

MR. GOLDSTEIN: That's fine. That's fine. 11

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Yes. But it won't say 12

exactly the same thing that I said when I was speaking 13

on the record. So the record will basically be a 14

supplement for specifics. 15

MR. GOLDSTEIN: And will we get a copy of 16

the transcript of the hearing from the other day as 17

well? 18

JUDGE SULLIVAN: The transcript will be 19

filed with this office, and if I recall correctly, it 20

will be posted and available for review after a 21

certain p eriod of time. I can't remember if that's 22

five days or a little longer than that. 23

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Okay. That would be great. 24

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. In terms of 45 days, 2513

Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628

- 4888 today is the 26th of October, and I need to jump back 1

into my computer calendar. 2

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Well, today is the 299th day 3

of the year, so that would be 344. 4

JUDGE SULLIVAN: And when you say the 299th 5

day, you're counting from January 1, 2011? 6

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Yes, I'm just looking at my 7

calendar, Your Honor, that says today is the 299th 8

day. 9

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. 10

MR. GOLDSTEIN: So 299 and 45 is 344. 11

JUDGE SULLIVAN: We're talking about 12

December 12 I think. 13

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Yes. 344th is the 10th, 14

which is a Saturday. 15

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Right. Mr. 16

Stevenson, since the Court has canceled the trial date 17

that was set for that week, do you have any objection 18

to a 45

- day period of time for the Respondent to 19

complete its discovery? 20

MR. STEVENSON: We won't object. 21

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Then, Mr. Goldstein, 22

I w ill so direct you to tell your client to produce 23

and provide all discovery that's been ordered on or 24

before December 12, 2011. 2514

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- 4888 MR. GOLDSTEIN: Okay. Thank you. 1

JUDGE SULLIVAN: You're welcome. Folks, if 2

you have any problems with the Request for Prod uction 3

No. 9, to avoid the tight rush to the courthouse 4

essentially on that, why don't I give you a due date 5

for that as well. If there are any problems at all, 6

what I'd like to have you do is jointly call Diane 7

Mays, who is my administrative assistant, a nd get on 8

my calendar for an expedited motion on that on or 9

before November 18. 10

Now, Mr. Stevenson, I'm going to turn to you 11

for this next question and then I'll turn to Mr. 12

Goldstein after that. You will be getting all the 13

discovery that you have reque sted that we've discussed 14

and that I've ordered on or before December 12, 2011. 15

That's right before the general holiday season, so 16

keep that in mind. 17

How much time do you think you will need 18

after December 12, 2011, to take depositions? And I 19

should me ntion to both of you, I'm going to tell you 20

what my calendar is in January. I've been calendaring 21

cases, so I have some time in early February for a 22

trial, and then I tend to have some early March dates 23

and then some dates in April. So, with that in mind

, 24

how much time do you need to take these depositions? 2515

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- 4888 Do you need 30 days, for example, after 1

December 12, 2011? Do you need 45 days? Do you need 2

10 days? Can you give me a sense of how much time you 3

think you would need to schedule and take those 4

de positions? Because clearly you can start to 5

schedule them before December 12, 2011, but they 6

shouldn't be taken though until after that period of 7

time. 8

MR. STEVENSON: Yes. Well, without having 9

run this by all the parties involved, I'm going to 10

presume that someone who is necessary for the 11

depositions is not going to be available in those last 12

couple of weeks of December. I mean, that's just the 13

holidays generally, and as Your Honor is probably 14

familiar dealing with, there's a couple of the 15

inspectors involved in this who are relatively senior 16

and probably have some sort of use

- or

- lose that often 17

ends up getting stuck there at the end of the year. 18

So we'd probably have to look at January for 19

when we would actually conduct the depositions. And I 20

perso nally have a hearing, a multi

- day hearing 21

scheduled in the week of the 9th. 22

JUDGE SULLIVAN: When you say "the week of 23

the 9th", are you talking about January 2012? 24

MR. STEVENSON: Yes, Your Honor. I'm sorry. 2516

Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628

- 4888 So, if we said 30 days from that December 12 date, we 1

may effectively be trying to put it into one 2

particular week, which would be the week of January 2. 3

If we're setting a hard deadline, we probably don't 4

want to put all of our eggs in that basket, so it 5

might be better to say we'll get them do ne by 6

January 27, which is the last day of the last full 7

week in January 2012. That gives us three weeks to 8

hopefully be able to work with everyone's calendars. 9

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Thank you. Mr. Goldstein, 10

what's your position? 11

MR. GOLDSTEIN: I guess I'm a bit confused, 12

Your Honor. The only deposition that I understand 13

that the FAA wants to take is of Mr. Dean. 14

JUDGE SULLIVAN: And as I understand it, you 15

were planning to take a variety of depositions 16

yourself. 17

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Yes. 18

JUDGE SULLIVA N: We're trying to talk about 19

having all of those done because I think we still have 20

an interest that's been expressed by Mr. Stevenson to 21

come to Miami once and take care of all of the 22

depositions at one time. 23

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Okay. And I've always sai d 24

I don't have a problem with that. I think that you 2517

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- 4888 said the week of January 27? 1

JUDGE SULLIVAN: I believe Mr. Stevenson was 2

positing that that might give you enough time. My 3

question is whether or not you agree with that. 4

MR. GOLDSTEIN: I think t hat's enough time, 5

the week of the 23rd through the 27th probably 6

depending, you know. 7

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. 8

MR. GOLDSTEIN: I spoke to my client this 9

morning thinking you'd probably ask about availability 10

in the first three months of the year. He is 11

available that week. 12

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. What I will do, I 13

will simply err on the side of caution for you both, 14

and I'll set the deposition due date for January 31, 15

which is the last day of the month, of 2012. 16

Mr. Goldstein, I'm going to turn to y ou 17

next. You had originally expressed an interest in 18

having a little bit of extra time after the 19

depositions were complete for any final discovery 20

matters. Can you tell me after January 31, 2012, how 21

much time you think you would need in order to 22

complet e your exploratory phase? 23

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Your Honor just asked 24

exactly the question I was going to raise, and I do 2518

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- 4888 want to have the ability to do followup discovery. My 1

suspicion is I will not need to take more depositions, 2

although it's possible I wil l, but rather it will be a 3

matter of document requests from the FAA. So I would 4

say two weeks after I get the transcript to make 5

document requests, further document requests, and if 6

it appears that I'm going to want to take other 7

depositions, then I will know that I think when the 8

depositions are taken. 9

So I'd like to have the ability within that 10

two

- week period to say that I want to take additional 11

depositions, to not necessarily have them done during 12

that two

- week period because availability is always a 13

concern. 14

JUDGE SULLIVAN: So tell me in terms of an 15

actual date. 16

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Okay. 17

JUDGE SULLIVAN: You're saying two weeks 18

from the 31st to get more documentation. 19

MR. GOLDSTEIN: To ask for, yes. 20

JUDGE SULLIVAN: To ask for. And then how 21

much time after that to be able to go home and sleep 22

all night without thinking about the case being done 23

before trial? 24

MR. GOLDSTEIN: I didn't understand that. 2519

Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628

- 4888 How much time? 1

JUDGE SULLIVAN: You have indicated that you 2

need about two weeks after J anuary 31, 2012, to obtain 3

further discovery and you hope under the best 4

circumstances that all you'll need is written 5

material. 6

MR. GOLDSTEIN: I thought I said two weeks 7

after the transcript is done. 8

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. How long does it 9

take to g et a transcript for depositions from your 10

experience? 11

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Probably two weeks. 12

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. And then how long 13

after that four

- week period, because you're now 14

talking about four weeks, do you think you need for 15

any final discovery purposes? 16

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Well, I could say what I 17

need pretty quickly within two weeks easily and then 18

scheduling it would simply be a matter of 19

availability. And again, I don't think I will require 20

additional depositions. It's just impossible to say. 21

Mainly, in my experience, it would be document 22

requests. 23

JUDGE SULLIVAN: And I understand that, and 24

I don't want to guess on your behalf. I want you to 2520

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- 4888 tell me in your opinion based on your experience how 1

much total time you ideally want me to consid er for 2

your client. 3

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Well, in that light, I would 4

say an extra 30 days. 5

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. So, for example, as 6

of February 29, 2012, you would be comfortable with a 7

complete discovery cutoff date? 8

(Pause.) 9

JUDGE SULLIVAN: I'm n ot hearing a response. 10

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Well, because I'm not sure. 11

Do you mean February 29 would be the last day to make 12

a discovery request or to have the discovery 13

accomplished? 14

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Have the discovery 15

accomplished. I want you tell me a s best you can, and 16

I know some of this is a bit of a guess, but you've 17

had 40 years of litigation experience and I'm relying 18

upon that. 19

MR. GOLDSTEIN: More. 20

JUDGE SULLIVAN: On more. So tell me how 21

much total time you're going to need after January 31, 22

2012, to request additional written materials, to 23

schedule any further depositions and to be comfortable 24

that you've done what you need to do. 2521

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- 4888 MR. GOLDSTEIN: Again, I'm sorry if I'm 1

appearing dense, Your Honor, but I can make the 2

requests I think wi thin a couple of weeks after I get 3

the transcript. But if I make a request for a 4

document production, if the FAA has 30 days, then 5

obviously I need to make the request that they have 30 6

days to respond. 7

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Tell me as best you can 8

knowing a ll of those timeframes and due dates. 9

MR. GOLDSTEIN: I would say the end of March 10

then to be safe. March 30. 11

JUDGE SULLIVAN: And in terms of to be safe, 12

see, I'm looking at this and I'm thinking I can do a 13

deposition. At the close of the deposition , I would 14

have a very good idea of what kind of materials I 15

would need from someone without having to wait for a 16

transcript because I'm taking notes. 17

But I'm just saying. So once I get that 18

material and I'll ask for it right away, then I can 19

see who I n eed to call for a return deposition and I 20

don't need necessarily to wait for a transcript to 21

figure that out. So I understand what you're asking 22

me in terms of an ideal period of time, but it seems 23

to me given the length of time that this case has been 24

pe nding that we could close that gap a little bit. 2522

Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628

- 4888 But I'm hearing from you that you're not comfortable 1

or confident that that could occur. 2

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Well, I think comfortable is 3

the term and I do take notes at depositions, but 4

sometimes you can't w rite everything down exactly when 5

I ask what document would this be in and so forth and 6

sometimes you just don't get it right. 7

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Right. And I'm not 8

suggesting that you don't or that you're not a zealous 9

advocate. I'm just saying that fro m my own experience 10

I have not felt the need to wait for the transcript in 11

each and every case. So when I hear you say that 12

you're going to need essentially 60 days after the 13

last scheduled deposition, it raises some bells for 14

me, but I will accept that a s your ideal. 15

MR. GOLDSTEIN: I'm being cautious, no 16

question about it. 17

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Yes, that's true. So let 18

me ask you this, and I'm staying with you, Mr. 19

Goldstein, in terms of a trial date or hearing date, 20

and we're just going to say for after 60 days, I take 21

it that you would be ready to go shortly after that. 22

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Yes. 23

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Mr. Stevenson, let's 24

turn to you. What is your sense of any further 2523

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- 4888 discovery after January 31, 2012, and when you might 1

be available fo r an actual hearing date in Miami, 2

Florida? 3

MR. STEVENSON: Well, as far as my 4

availability timing

- wise, I mean, at that point we're 5

at such a far enough time that I can honestly tell 6

Your Honor I literally don't have anything on my 7

calendar for those ti mes. I mean, it hasn't even 8

populated the holidays yet. So my availability, 9

that's not an issue. 10

I would say I'm concerned that we're getting 11

so far out in potential dates here. I mean, it's 12

almost like we're redoing the entire discovery process 13

at th is point. I know I didn't object to the 45

- day 14

request for the timeframe, but that's something that's 15

usually done 30 days for a full response to a full 16

original discovery request. 17

And I would tend to agree with Your Honor 18

that usually where there is a request for production 19

following a deposition, that's something that you 20

would do almost immediately after the deposition is 21

concluded, although I understand that Mr. Goldstein 22

needs to be conservative in order to protect his 23

client's interests. 24

With tha t said, at the same time that I'm 2524

Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628

- 4888 saying I think we're stretching this out a little bit, 1

I don't know that I'd want to go immediately from the 2

close of the discovery period to a hearing date 3

because I believe that in this case there may be many 4

issues that are amenable potentially to stipulation 5

for factual issues and I think then to a summary 6

judgment or at least a partial summary judgment 7

motion. 8

So I think it would be helpful to have that. 9

For example, I mean, you've heard in this discussion 10

I don't t hink that there is ultimately going to be any 11

factual dispute that the aircraft flew past the 100

- 12

hour mark after these inspections but did not fly past 13

the 110

- hour mark. 14

And it is going to end up being the Agency's 15

position that that constitutes a viol ation and 16

Respondent's position that that doesn't constitute a 17

violation, and so that is the sort of issue that I 18

think we could just deal with on motions without 19

having to have a lengthy or more drawn out hearing. 20

So I'd like to get this done more quick ly. 21

At the same time, I also want to make sure that we 22

have some time built in for working on stipulations 23

and some judgment motions. 24

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Let me take a look 2525

Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628

- 4888 at my calendar and I'm going to give you some dates 1

and then ask you to resp ond. 2

(Pause.) 3

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. This is what I'm 4

going to suggest. I want to take a look at your April 5

calendars for a trial date. Starting with you, Mr. 6

Stevenson, do you have time in the week of April 1

- 7 7

for a trial in Miami, Florida? 8

MR. STEVENSON: There is no problem from my 9

personal schedule, Your Honor, although let me add the 10

obvious proviso that I have not checked with any of 11

the potential witnesses. If for some reason they have 12

nonrefundable travel scheduled then or something, I 13

wo uld have to do that. 14

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Mr. Goldstein, your 15

calendar? Any impediments to the week of April 1

- 7? 16

MR. GOLDSTEIN: No, Your Honor. I would 17

just note April 6 is Good Friday, Friday, the 6th is 18

Good Friday, and the 8th is Easter Sunda y just for 19

travel issues. 20

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Okay. 21

MR. GOLDSTEIN: I don't have anything on my 22

calendar at all for April. 23

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. I've had the Easter 24

issue come up with some other folks as well. Thank 2526

Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628

- 4888 you for pointing that out. Mr. Stevenson, turning to 1

you, do you have time available for a trial the week 2

of April 23? 3

MR. STEVENSON: Yes, Your Honor. 4

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Mr. Goldstein, do you have 5

time for a trial the week of April 23? 6

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Yes, Your Honor. 7

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Let's plan on scheduling 8

this for the week of April 23, and essentially we're 9

going to replicate the same thing we had in December, 10

which is the Monday day during that week, Monday, 11

April 23, 2012, it will be a travel day. Tuesday, 12

April 24, We dnesday, April 25, and Thursday, April 26 13

will be the actual trial dates in Miami, Florida, with 14

Friday, April 27 being the travel day for return for 15

anyone who needs to travel out. 16

With that essentially, then I'm going to 17

suggest, and I'll open this for comment, that we have 18

a February 10, 2012, due date for any requests for 19

material subsequent to the depositions that are taken 20

in January 2012; all depositions taken between the 21

date of February 1, 2012 to the date of March 16, 22

2012, with discovery being completed as of March 16, 23

2012. 24

In terms of evidentiary exchange due dates, 2527

Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628

- 4888 it seems to me that you could easily have

-- I 1

shouldn't say easily. Nothing is ever that easy in 2

trial, but you could have your complete exchange of 3

evidence, that being the li st of witnesses that you're 4

planning to call, a short statement of the testimony, 5

documents, resumés and so forth, filed with each other 6

on or before March 30, 2012. 7

Stipulations can come in at any time between 8

now and the date of the trial. Motions for summary 9

judgment, I'm going to ask the parties to have motions 10

for summary judgment, any dispositive motions filed on 11

or before March 21, 2012. 12

And then what I'd like to do is also direct 13

you, if you are filing a motion for summary judgment, 14

actually I can set that up. Excuse me. Let me just 15

look at my calendar. What I'm going to do is ask both 16

of you, if you have time available on Thursday, 17

April 12, 2012, I'm going to set up a motion 18

conference for summary judgment or other dispositive 19

motions by te lephone on that day if I can. And then I 20

will backtrack from that day for any answer and reply 21

for motions. 22

Starting with you, Mr. Stevenson, do you 23

have any time available on April 12, 2012, for a 24

maximum one

- hour telephone conference? 2528

Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628

- 4888 MR. STEVENSON: Anytime of day is fine with 1

me, Your Honor. 2

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Mr. Goldstein, do you have 3

time available on that day? 4

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Yes, Your Honor, anytime. 5

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Why don't we plan on 6

1:30 Eastern Time on April 12, 2012, for a mo tion 7

conference on any dispositive motions. With that in 8

mind, I was looking at my calendar and kind of 9

backtracking, I'm going to direct the answer to any 10

dispositive motions filed by March 30, 2012, any reply 11

will be filed no later than April 4, 2012. And then 12

if there are no dispositive motions, I'll simply 13

cancel the April 12, 2012. I'm sorry, I gave a little 14

bit of a short end to the reply people. Excuse me. 15

The reply should be April 10, excuse me. 16

And then April 12, if there is no 17

dispositive m otion filed, I'll unilaterally cancel 18

that. So anything else I need to address for you? 19

Mr. Stevenson, is there anything else that I need to 20

address for you and your client today? 21

MR. STEVENSON: Well, the one thing I wanted 22

to ask just to make sure wh ether these scheduling 23

dates will also be in Your Honor's order? 24

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Absolutely. 2529

Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628

- 4888 MR. STEVENSON: Okay. That was the only 1

question I had, Your Honor. 2

JUDGE SULLIVAN: What I will do is I'll 3

issue an order on the motions to compel and the 4

motions for sanction and then I'll issue another 5

separate order that just has the litigation dates and 6

procedures so that you have the two separate orders. 7

I think that's a little easier in terms of 8

calendaring. 9

Mr. Goldstein, is there anything else th at 10

we need to set up for a litigation date or anything 11

else we need to address for your client? 12

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Your Honor, I can't think of 13

anything now. 14

JUDGE SULLIVAN: Okay. Thank you both very 15

much for your presence today. It appears our busines s 16

is complete. If you don't settle the case, I look 17

forward to seeing you in April 2012. With that, we 18

can go off the record, and I wish you all a good day. 19

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Thank you, Your Honor. Same 20

to you. 21

MR. STEVENSON: Thank you, Your Honor. 22

(Whereupon, at 2:14 p.m., the hearing in the 23

above

- entitled matter was concluded.) 24

// 2530

Heritage Reporting Corporation

(202) 628

- 4888 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE

DOCKET NO.: FAA

- 2011

- 0069

CASE TITLE: Dean International, Inc.

HEARING DATE: October 26, 2011

LOCATION: Washington, D.C.

I hereby certify t hat the proceedings and

evidence are contained fully and accurately on the

tapes and notes reported by me at the hearing in the

above case before the United States Department of

Transportation.

Date: October 26, 2011

Peter J. Torres Official Reporter Heritage Reporting Corporation Suite 600 1220 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005

- 4018