Crypto legal expert and Ripple supporter Jeremy Hogan is hinting at when the San Francisco-based payments company’s lawsuit with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may conclude.
In a new video, Hogan says that a settlement between Ripple and the SEC is likely to occur after the discovery phase, which is the pre-trial phase of a lawsuit where both parties present relevant information and evidence.
Hogan estimates when the discovery phase is likely to conclude and thus when a settlement between Ripple and the SEC could be reached.
“No settlement will happen until after the close of discovery. Could it settle before then? Yes, I just don’t think it’s likely. So any settlement is likely to be after at least the close of fact discovery, and that is now early September and even more likely to be after October 16th. And if it doesn’t settle, then I believe that two main issues will be decided by Judge Torres as summary judgment.
Looking at the summary judgment rule briefly, you can see there that motions for summary judgments must be filed within 30 days of the close of discovery. So that puts the parties competing for motions for summary judgment due no later than 30 days of the close of all the discovery and that is November 16th for us.”
If the case is not settled, Hogan predicts a series of back and forth responses to the motion for summary judgments, extending the case beyond November and into 2022.
“I don’t see the case being decided at summary judgment until early 2022, maybe January.”
The lawyer says that the SEC is likely in no rush to conclude the lawsuit, noting that the top regulator was just successfully granted a two-month extension to the discovery process.
“I don’t see any reason why the SEC is going to be in any rush on this case. The more time goes by, the better the SEC’s settlement position because the more pain for Ripple. I see it every day in my firm as most of my clients are fighting large insurance companies and there’s nothing they like better than to kill my clients with time. It’s a very common tactic.”
This past week, Ripple saw a small victory in its fight with the SEC, in which Judge Sarah Netburn denied the SEC access to documents pertaining Ripple’s past lobbying efforts.
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