Document wqXpDv99n0dO71Eyeb8X25K1V

Telephone: (702) 385-4202 cB/oRJAonDesL, EJoYnes&, CMloEseR&REBrLowLn 300 South Fourth Street, Seventh Floor Las Vegas, Nevada 89101-6026 Fax: (702) 385-1655 June 21, 1993 VIA TELEFAX John Kim, Esq. Fisher, Gallagher & Lewis, L.L.P. 1000 Louisiana, 70th Floor Houston, Texas 77002 Re: Nevada Power Company v. Monsanto Company, et al. USDC, District of Nevada Case CV-S-89-555-LDG (LRL) Dear John I have some news that is not going to make your day. As you can see from the attached memo to Richard Hinckley, I had no choice but to withdraw our motion for a stay. This means that the Rule 26(b) for expert disclosures and expeft preparation must be completed by July 30. Since you have taken on those responsibilities, I wanted to let you know as soon as possible. Also, it is critical that we receive by Friday your firm's check for $11,000 so that we can make this week's payroll and pay employees that were not paid last week. Also, it is imperative that I spoke with you regarding some coordinating issues. Please give me a call. Sincerely, PEM:dd cvg\cor\kim.l01 PAUL E. MERRELL Coordinating Attorney MEMORANDUM TO: Richard Hinckley cc: Mike Gallagher, Charles McCrea, David McCrea, John Kim FROM: Paul Merre RE: Nevada Power v. Monsanto, et al DATE: July 20, 1993 Regarding the General Electric settlement overture, I have an update and some advice. The advice is to suggest that Nevada Power send a letter to Mr. Murphy of G.E., telling him that: [i] unless G.E. is willing to lay a proposal on the table before the meeting, there is no reason for the meeting; [ii] absent such a proposal, Nevada Power would have no prior opportunity to consult with its attorneys and therefore could not engage in meaningful discussion; [iii] if and when a meeting does occur, Nevada Power intends to have its attorneys present and G.E. is welcome to bring its attorneys as well. The reason for the advice, in a nutshell, is that G.E. 's goal is now apparent, to pressure Nevada Power into making the first offer both through the personal relationship between Mr. Holcombe and Mr. Murphy and through pressure in Court. That way, the negotiation would be down from the number Nevada Power proposes rather than up from the number G.E. proposes. During the hearing this morning on the stay of proceedings to negotiate, Steve Kuney completely reversed G . E . 1s position regarding the stay given to me the day before by David Kiernan. I first advised 'the Court of the basic facts of the settlement initiative, then related that M r . Kiernan had authorized me to Memorandum July 21, 1993 Page 2 represent that G .E . supported the motion. In response, Kuney stated that if Nevada Power had problems preparing its expert disclosures, G.E. was open to an extension, but it believed there should be a stay only if the first meeting resulted in meaningful discussions and otherwise G.E. believed th schedule should not be altered. (I have said nothing to any defendant or the Court about any such difficulties.) I immediately told the Court that I was withdrawing the motion because I obviously should have spoken with Mr. Kuney rather than Mr. Kiernan. I also informed the Court that it was M r . Kiernan who had chosen the dates and much of the language involved in the stay. I had also told the Court that I was disturbed by the ploy of a client-to-client contact and asked the Court to inquire whether counsel for G.E. was aware of the initiative before it occurred and whether counsel intended the meeting condition that Nevada Power's attorneys not attend. Rather than address that issue, Kuney made a rather huffy speech about the rights of clients to contact each other. I believe this has the salubrious effect of alerting the Court to an apparent ethical irregularity and putting G.E. a little on the defensive. The statement by Kuney conditioning a stay on "a meaningful dialogue" was obviously a surmise by him that we were eager enough for a stay that Nevada Power's attorneys would urge Nevada Power to engage in a "dialogue" during the meeting, in other words that Nevada Power would dicker at the meeting. Memorandum July 21, 1993 Page 3 r:. Under these circumstances, I believe it imperative that G.E. receive an immediate message that there is no linkage among the requested stay, the discovery schedule, and the meeting, that Nevada Power will not bargain from a position of apparent weakness. Mr. Murphy needs to be advised that his request to slow things down, his attorneys' agreement to implement that request, and Nevada Power"s good faith effort to comply with his ""go-slow" request resulted in an embarrassment to all concerned. I believe that the experience demonstrates the need to insist that the attorneys conduct the negotiations. The only possible motive for G.E. to approach Nevada Power directly is the hope that they can trade on the personal relationship with Mr. Holcombe to obtain a negotiation advantage. If you are determined to proceed with a private meeting, under no circumstances should Nevada Power suggest settlement terms or amounts even hypothetically. G.E. asked for the meeting and it should make the first proposal, prior to the meeting. If it is not willing to do that, then all that is involved in the meeting proposal is a fishing expedition to see if Nevada Power will offer the slightest clue about how much money or in-kind services it might accept. It is not in Nevada Power's best interest to allow negotiations to begin on such a footing. pcm\nvpower\mcmol24.pem BRADLEY & MERRELL JONES, JONES, CLOSE & BROWN, CHARTERED Seventh Floor -- Bank of America Plaza 300 South Fourth Street Las Vegas, Nevada 89101-6026 (702) 385-4202 M ESSAG E FROM XER O X 7024: (7021 385-1655 DATE: ikfa - TO: John H. Kim, Esq. FAX #: (713) 654-5070 PHONE #: (713) 654-4433 FROM: Paul E. Merrell CLIENT/MATTER: Nevada Power v. Monsanto CLIEN T/M ATTER NO.: 11927.2 DOCUMENT(S) DESCRIPTION: 't' NUM BER OF PAGES (including cover page): MESSAGE: THIS TELECO PY IS INTENDED ONLY FOR THE ADDRESSEE NAMED A B O V E IT MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE TELECO PY IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY US IMMEDIATELY B Y TELEPHONE, DESTROY A LL COPIES, AND DO NOT DISSEMINATETHE INFORMATION TO A N YO N E THANK YOU FO R YOUR ASSISTANCE IF YOU EXPERIENCE PROBLEMS WITH THIS TRANSMISSION, please call (702) 385-4202 and ask for: Randy Andreini, Ext. 615 DATE: _ TO: John H. Kim, Esq, FAX #: FROM: R aul fcz. Merrai I RHONE #: C LIEN T /M A T T ER : Nevada Power v. 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