Ripple (XRP) opposes the SEC’s request for an extension of the discovery deadline 

Ripple Labs’ legal representative in court, James K. Filan, said on Twitter the company has filed an opposition to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) request for a two month discovery deadline extension.

In the lawsuit against Ripple, the SEC’s request to prolong the discovery phase could further delay the legal process, jeopardizing the company’s ability to continue operating in the US.

SEC misstates the reasons for Ripple’s opposition

On June 2, the US SEC filed an official request with Judge Analisa Torres for both a fact and expert discovery deadline extension of 60 days.

Six days later, Ripple’s legal defense filed an objection to the discovery deadline extension request, arguing that “an extension of the discovery schedule, in this case, would cause tremendous prejudice to Ripple,” while adding “the SEC has not met its burden of showing that there is good cause to extend the schedule.” 

#XRPCommunity #SEC_NEWS v. #Ripple #XRP Ripple files it's opposition to the SEC's request for a 60 day extension of the discovery deadline.https://t.co/rh761CqkNU

— James K. Filan (@FilanLaw) June 8, 2021

Ripple’s attorney also pointed out that the SEC “misstates the reasons for Ripple’s opposition to extending discovery,” while defending their opinion that the enforcement action was filed before the investigation was completed. 

The SEC’s two-and-a-half-year-long investigation that preceded the lawsuit against Ripple gave the regulators a significant head start in the case but the defense stated this is not the grounds of their objection to the deadline extension request.

The defense also admitted the company’s wishes to move for summary judgment as soon as possible, since “this litigation itself poses a grave threat to Ripple’s ability to continue operating in the United States,” but pointed out this is not “an arbitrary preference for speed.”

An existential threat

The deadlines were originally set on July 2 for fact discovery and on August 16 for expert discovery.  

In their request for the deadline extension, the SEC claimed it needs more time to complete deposing witnesses, adding also that their request to depose six additional witnesses and compel Ripple to produce further documents is pending before Magistrate Judge Netburn. 

Ripple’s defense argued this is not a good enough reason to change the discovery schedule, pointing out that a delay would present “an existential threat” to Ripple’s business in the US.

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