Filed: Apr. 25, 2017
Latest Update: Apr. 25, 2017
Summary: ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION LARRY ALAN BURNS , District Judge . The magistrate judge held a hearing on several motions related to Spe Lo's efforts to collect on a $22 million judgment against Michael Gallegos. The Court finds the magistrate's report and recommendation correct and adopts it. Fed. R. Civ. P. 72. * * * Gallegos filed an objection to the R&R asking the Court to clarify and limit the type of documents he must turn over to Spe Lo. At the hearing, Gallegos told th
Summary: ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION LARRY ALAN BURNS , District Judge . The magistrate judge held a hearing on several motions related to Spe Lo's efforts to collect on a $22 million judgment against Michael Gallegos. The Court finds the magistrate's report and recommendation correct and adopts it. Fed. R. Civ. P. 72. * * * Gallegos filed an objection to the R&R asking the Court to clarify and limit the type of documents he must turn over to Spe Lo. At the hearing, Gallegos told the..
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ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
LARRY ALAN BURNS, District Judge.
The magistrate judge held a hearing on several motions related to Spe Lo's efforts to collect on a $22 million judgment against Michael Gallegos. The Court finds the magistrate's report and recommendation correct and adopts it. Fed. R. Civ. P. 72.
* * *
Gallegos filed an objection to the R&R asking the Court to clarify and limit the type of documents he must turn over to Spe Lo. At the hearing, Gallegos told the magistrate judge that he didn't oppose the assignment of his interest in 122 entities to Spe Lo. But he asked the court to limit the turnover of documents related to the entities to the past four years. Spe Lo agreed and the magistrate recommended limiting the turnover of responsive documents to the commencement of the action — April 5, 2011. Gallegos's objection doesn't take issue with that restriction. If Gallegos was concerned about the types of documents he needed to produce, he should have raised that issue at the hearing.
The Court recognizes that sorting through copious amounts of irrelevant financial documents is a waste of time for everyone involved. The test for responsive documents here is straightforward: Gallegos needs to produce to Spe Lo whatever documents it needs to track down the money Gallegos owes. To that end, the Court orders the parties to meet and confer to ensure that Spe Lo obtains the documents it needs. If the parties can't reach agreement on the scope of those documents, then they must file a concise, joint motion with the magistrate judge explaining, specifically, the documents that Spe Lo believes it needs but Gallegos says are irrelevant. The motion must be filed on or before May 8, 2017.
The parties are using a disproportionate amount of judicial resources on a routine collection case. Gallegos owes Spe Lo $22 million, but he's evaded payment for six years. The time has come for him to pay up. The Court reminds Gallegos of its order last December: if he fails to comply with court orders or evade payment, "the Court won't hesitate to hold him in contempt."1
IT IS SO ORDERED.
