US Lawyer Thinks “One Big Ruling” Might Come Soon in Lawsuit

U.S. lawyer and former federal prosecutor James K. Filan has penned his thoughts on the pending issues in the ongoing Ripple-SEC lawsuit.

#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP
I have some thoughts on timing regarding the Hinman documents, the summary judgment motions and the outstanding sealing issues. Rather than typing out a long thread, I’ve written them in the attached document. pic.twitter.com/Q5sPTCiFL6

— James K. Filan 🇺🇸🇮🇪 126k (beware of imposters) (@FilanLaw) December 1, 2022

In a document attached to the tweet, Filan noted three big outstanding issues: the summary judgment motions, expert challenges (“Daubert motions”) and, lastly, sealing issues regarding the expert reports, the Hinman documents and other materials relied on by the SEC and Ripple in their motions.

He believes that the resolution of these issues might be intertwined and dependent on each other. That means that, in his view, what District Judge Torres relies on in making her decision on the summary judgment will dictate what she will likely unseal.

Filan also believes the same might apply to the expert motions. Filan explains that if Judge Torres does not rely on an expert in her summary judgment decision, then there may not be a further need for her to address the motion to strike that expert’s testimony.

Filan cited an example of a similar scenario — a Goldman Sachs case that had sealing disputes, expert challenges and motions for summary judgment — which District Judge Torres decided.

Filan stated that the issues were decided simultaneously in one significant ruling with an added footnote to unseal judicial documents, upon which she relied.

On this premise, Filan says he does not think a separate ruling should be anticipated on the pending issues. He maintains his earlier prediction that District Judge Torres would rule on the matters concurrently and in “one big written ruling.” This, he believes, will happen by March 31, 2023.

Hinman documents

Ripple announced in October that it now had the much-desired documents of former SEC official William Hinman, who declared ETH to be nonsecurity in a 2018 lecture.

The documents, however, remain sealed to the public. Expectations have been voiced by those following the lawsuit closely that the documents might be revealed in the publicly redacted replies to summary judgment motions expected on Dec. 5.

Filan, however, believes that the public might not get to see references to the Hinman documents in the upcoming replies. He believes the SEC might redact references to the Hinman documents as in the past.