Judge addresses countersuit against co-op

A scheduling plan for the countersuit against Socorro Electric Cooperative was sketched out and the judge granted a 30-day stay on the co-op’s motion to delay paying attorney fees during a telephonic status hearing on Friday.

 
 
District Court Judge Albert J. Mitchell Jr., who was appointed to the case by the New Mexico Supreme Court Justice, said he wanted to speed things along on the countersuit, which has been left pending since the judge ruled against Socorro Electric in the original case in May.
“I want discovery to start,” he said. “I think we all understand how much gets done between now and January first. Let’s get moving now.”
Attorney Darin Foster of the Kennedy & Han law firm of Albuquerque, representing Socorro Electric, said at the outset of the hearing that the firm’s lead attorney, Paul Kennedy, was preoccupied with other cases of importance to the state. He said Kennedy was involved in four cases that have to do with the dispute over the realignment of legislative and Congressional districts and would be indisposed until that was resolved.
Attorney Bill Ikard of the Ikard Wynne law firm of Austin, Texas, who is lead attorney in the countersuit, which calls for class action certification, said he was willing to accommodate the co-op’s attorneys, but wanted a schedule in place.
“We just want to get something set. The problem has been getting it on the calender,” said Ikard, who had proposed a scheduling order last summer.
Attorneys discussed the timeline for all the things that needed to happen before a merits hearing could be set. Both Ikard and Foster agreed that discovery on the class action proposal needed to start and a date set for the interviewing of expert witnesses. A filing date for the class action certification also needed to be set and then a hearing date on that issue.
“That has to happen before any disposition on the merits,” said Ikard, who proposed a hearing on the class action certification be held in June.
Foster said June would be “pushing it.”
“Given the restraints of our office, we’re looking for a longer time frame,” said Foster, adding that they were not trying to delay the process. “It would involve rather substantial deposition, especially for Mr. Wagner.”
Wagner is a member of the co-op’s board of trustees and a leader in the movement to reform Socorro Electric. He is named as representative of the class of member-owners in the class action proposal.
Foster said another issue is that it appears the co-op is not covered by the countersuit.
“We have no coverage on the cross claim,” Foster said. “All of it would be coming out of the members’ pocket, which I find quite ironic.”
In the end, the Judge Mitchell said he’d like to schedule a hearing for early April, at which time they could consider the prospect of mediation. Both sides said they were willing to mediate, but neither expressed optimism that anything could be resolved.
Mitchell said another status hearing could be scheduled for June and then plan for a full hearing in September.
“I’m just trying to get something on the calender. With this many parties, that’s always a challenge,” he said.
In addition to Ikard Wynne, the Deschamps & Kortemeier law firm of Socorro is also involved in the countersuit, working in concert with Ikard Wynne on behalf of the member-owners. Socorro attorney’s Thomas Fitch and Polly Tausch, are also technically still involved, having responded to the co-op’s original lawsuit, which challenged new bylaws that call for the co-op to operate with more transparency.
Judge Mitchell ruled in May that the bylaws were valid and later awarded attorney fees to Ikard Wynne, Deschamps & Kortemeier and Fitch & Tausch. A total of $13,000 was to be paid within 30 days, but the co-op earned a stay on that matter. Mitchell said he would either rule to extend the stay or order that the fees be paid immediately by Jan. 1, 2012.
At the end of the hearing, Judge Mitchell asked Tausch how Fitch, who was brutally attacked in his law office on Aug. 5, was doing.
“I’m happy to say the attempt to kill him was unsuccessful, and he continues to improve,” she said.
 

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