The state’s case continued all day today. Basically, we slogged through mountains of paperwork. The state did finally rest their case. Tomorrow is Answers’ turn to present their side. The team has done some great strategizing and the judge has been clear what is needed. The team will do everything in their power to prove their case tomorrow based on the judge’s feedback.
On the federal side, it was a very interesting meeting. All attorneys for all sides met with the federal magistrate judge, Judge Kristin Mix. She explained that normally the administrative judge would deal with the case. He found the case was above his scope and bumped the case to the magistrate level.
Currently, there are 2 motions to dismiss, 2 motions for discovery and 2 motions to intervene in front of the court. Normally, the magistrate would deal with these issues. In this particular case, every one of those issues will be addressed by Judge Brimmer, the chief federal district judge, not his magistrate, Judge Mix. Judge Mix will only set dates and expedite the process.
So. The attorneys from all sides will jointly agree upon case schedule. In the case it cannot be agreed upon by the parties, Judge Mix will settle disputes regarding case management. November 12, 2019 we meet to schedule when the hearing will be.
Essentially, we met to schedule a meeting to meet to schedule when to meet.
Playfulness aside, this is huge; Chief Judge Philip A Brimmer of the United States District Court, District of Colorado, finds this case so critical that he is not going to delegate any of the normal responsibilities which are normally delegated to a magistrate judge.
All attorneys are in place; the trade association will be proceeding with our motion to intervene.
An interesting aside: as executive director of Next Gen PFMA, I represent our manufacturers and retailers on many AAFCO committees. Except for two, these committees have not met since our last AAFCO meeting in August 2019. At least to my knowledge. This is more evidence of the seriousness of these cases: AAFCO is waiting to perform their functions based on the outcome of this case.
Please send all your mental best wishes our way for a successful outcome in tomorrow’s case. The judge at the state level has clearly expressed his readiness to proceed with this case and our need to be efficient in our presentation.
