JOINT STIPULATION AND ORDER EXTENDING TIME FOR VERIZON CALIFORNIA, INC TO RESPOND TO COMPLAINT

MORRISON C. ENGLAND, Chief District Judge.

Plaintiff Sprint Communications Company L.P. ("Sprint") together with Defendant Verizon California, Inc. ("Verizon") stipulate and agree as follows:

WHEREAS, Verizon and Sprint have stipulated to extended Verizon's time to respond to the Complaint by twenty-eight (28) days to October 8, 2014 pursuant to Local Rule 144(a).

WHEREAS, Local Rules 143 and 144(a) provides that further extensions of time require the approval of the Court.

WHEREAS, Sprint has brought effectively the same claims as set forth in the Complaint in this action against various Verizon entities in numerous jurisdictions throughout the country.

WHEREAS, Sprint and Verizon are engaged in active settlement discussions to resolve the dispute and avoid the necessity of litigation; however, a settlement has not yet been reached.

WHEREAS, as of today, Verizon and Sprint, as part of their ongoing settlement discussions and to streamline and consolidate the various litigations, have agreed to file a Motion to sever Sprint's claims against Verizon in this matter and to transfer those claims to the Eastern District of Missouri, pursuant to Rule 21 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and 28 U.S.C. Section 1404.

WHEREAS, Sprint already has a lawsuit pending against MCI Metro Access Transmission Services, Inc. and MCI Communications Services, Inc. — two Verizon entities — in that district. As a result, consolidation of all of the Verizon entities in the Eastern District of Missouri will provide a forum where Verizon can resolve all of their issues with Sprint.

WHEREAS, as part of the parties' agreement and in order to effectuate a more orderly progression of the litigation, the parties have further agreed to extend the time for Verizon to answer the Complaint in this action until October 15, 2014 in order to hopefully allow the Court time to resolve the Motion to sever and transfer, which will be filed without opposition and with a request to be reviewed on an expedited basis.

WHEREAS, Verizon and Sprint do not seek this extension for the purposes of delay but to allow the parties to facilitate the orderly consolidation of similar lawsuits, to conduct efficient settlement discussions, and to conserve the resources of the parties and the Court. WHEREAS, all parties to this action have consented to this extension of time to respond.

THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing, it is hereby stipulated that:

Verizon's time to answer or otherwise respond to Sprint's Complaint will be extended for an additional 7 days, from October 8 until October 15, 2014.

Sprint and Verizon collectively request that the Court grant Verizon this additional time to answer or otherwise respond to Sprint's Complaint.

ORDER

IT IS SO ORDERED.