Top Secret: Hearing in Front of Judge Lee P. Rudofsky May Be.

Federal District Court Judge Lee P. Rudofsky has agreed to hold a hearing to discuss the pending motions for summary judgment and reconsideration of an earlier order granting summary judgement in Hammett v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC and Does on May 23, 2023 at 9 a.m. Central time. [UPDATE: Hearing Continued]

The hearing is by telephone and I made an inquiry of the Judge’s clerk as to whether I may share the access code with the public. Sorry, no response yet, but you will be the second to know.

The hearing should be interesting. I hope to discuss the as yet unsigned Consent Order filed March 23, 2023 between PRA and the CFPB [UPDATE. The Order was signed April 16, 2023]; new caselaw that finds that destroying evidence such as business records, even before a lawsuit is filed if the evidence can be expected to be used for litigation, carries the negative inference that is associated with spoliation of evidence; and the $82M punitive damage award against Portfolio Recovery for doing a similar thing to a woman in Missouri.

I may not have time to file a motion for clarification as to whether the hearing can be accessed by the public. The clerk still did not respond to my email inquiry. Sorry.

If you want the access code, please ask the court.