It has only been one week since the SEC filed their lawsuit against Ripple. For those that hold XRP it likely feels a lot longer. Time flys when you’re having fun, but when you’re miserable time seems to just drag on. This next news announcement seems like a step in the right direction. The Ripple vs SEC lawsuit officially has an initial pre-trial conference set for February 22nd, 2021.
It’s important to note that the case will not be decided on this date. This is the “discovery phase” where each side learns about all the available factual details. This includes internal documents, interviews of select people, and any initial proof from both sides in the suit. Typically these initial conferences are followed by 120 days of further fact-finding, which can be extended. From there the final pretrial submission date is 30 days after. Finally, there would be an official trial date set. In a perfect world, this trail could start September of 2021. I would buffer your expectations and assume there will be delays pushing the trail into 2022, which seems more likely.
The judge overseeing this trial process is Judge Analisa Torres. This individual is an Obama appointee, for those who are interested.
This is a standard operating procedure and there is nothing out of the ordinary taking place (yet). Although I wanted to bring section 8 to everyone’s attention:
If this case has been settled or otherwise terminated, counsel are required to notify the Court—before the date of the conference—by calling (212) 805-0292 and must e-mail a stipulation of discontinuance, voluntary dismissal, or other proof of termination to the Orders and Judgments Clerk
Stuart Alderoty, Ripples General Counsel posted this today, which I found interesting also:
I know Brad Garlinghouse already said in his open letter that he and Chris Larsen are not interested in settling, but I do find it encouraging that during any time they have the option to. The reason I find this encouraging is because almost the entire SEC board is being replaced in the next two months. It’s not a guarantee this will help Ripple in any way, but maybe – just maybe fresh eyes and ears in the SEC will prevail in reasonable actions.
You can read the entire initial pretrial conference order document below:
