Friday, October 07, 2005

Magistrate Judge (a) Permits RIAA Missouri Lawyers to Appear By Telephone (b) Orders RIAA Corporate Rep with "Settlement Authority" to Phone in Too

In the Atlantic v. Huggins peer to peer file sharing case in Brooklyn federal court, a settlement conference was scheduled for Friday, October 7th.

On September 21st, Mr. Huggins's lawyers asked the Magistrate to require a corporate officer from one of the RIAA companies -- with settlement authority -- to appear at the settlement conference. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2005/09/atlantic-v-huggins-shook-hardy-bacon.html

On October 6th, the day before the conference, the RIAA's lawyers asked for permission for their Misssouri attorney to appear by telephone, and for the corporate officer not to appear at all. They indicated that their Missouri counsel had authority to "discuss settlement" but not that he had "settlement authority". http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2005/10/riaa-in-atlantic-v-huggins-asks.html

On October 6th, Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy ruled that (a) a corporate representative of the plaintiffs did have to appear, but could do so by telephone, and (b) the Missouri lawyer could appear by telephone rather than in person.
October 6, 2005, order of Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy.
(Alternate link)

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