In
the
grand
tradition
of
turning
every
shred
of
human
decency
into
a
bargaining
chip,
a
motion
in
a
bankruptcy
action
seeks
a
filing
extension
from
the
court
after
the
words
“my
wife
is
in
the
hospital
being
medically
induced
eight
months
into
pregnancy”
were
apparently
met
with:
Sure
—
but
only
if
you
cave
on
this
other
procedural
demand
we’ve
been
pestering
you
with.
Nothing
says
professionalism
and
collegiality
like
a
hostage
negotiation
with
a
newborn
as
collateral!
Let’s
back
up.
Byju
Alpha
is
a
Chapter
11
proceeding
in
Delaware.
As
the
defendants
prepared
a
reply
for
the
motion
to
dismiss,
Delaware
counsel
learned
that
his
wife’s
pregnancy
required
a
medically
necessary
induction.
Between
hospital
delays,
shuttling
back
and
forth
with
Maternal
Fetal
Medicine,
and
the
whole
“bringing
an
actual
human
life
into
the
world”
thing,
counsel
wasn’t
in
a
position
to
assist
with
the
reply
brief
and
sought
an
extension.
This
is
not
a
frivolous
extension
to
go
watch
football
or
catch
a
baseball
game.
An
induced,
8-month
pregnancy
is
no
joke.
On
August
18,
counsel
asked
the
other
side
for
another
couple
days
to
get
everything
in
order.
According
to
the
filing,
here’s
what
happened
next.
7.
Plaintiffs’
counsel
replied
to
Defendants’
counsel’s
Request
that
Plaintiffs
would
agree
to
an
extension
if
Defendants’
counsel
would
agree
on
an
omnibus
hearing
for
all
outstanding
motions
in
this
Action
–
a
proposal
Plaintiffs’
counsel
had
first
made
to
Defendants’
counsel
last
week.8.
Defendants’
counsel
understood
that
Plaintiffs’
counsel
was
conditioning
its
support
for
the
Request
on
Defendants
providing
them
with
an
answer
concerning
Plaintiffs’
omnibus
hearing
proposal.
Defendants’
counsel
therefore
stated
in
response
that
Defendants
could
not
agree
to
an
omnibus
hearing,
but
that
it
would
make
an
alternative
proposal
to
Plaintiffs
for
the
upcoming
hearings.
In
the
same
Defendants’
counsel
thanked
Plaintiffs
for
agreeing
to
the
Request.9.
Plaintiffs’
counsel
responded
that
it
had
not
agreed
to
Defendant’s
Request,
and
that
it
only
would
do
so
if
Defendants
agreed
to
an
omnibus
hearing.
You’ve
got
to
appreciate
that
counsel
“understood
that
Plaintiffs’
counsel
was
conditioning
its
support,”
but
went
ahead
and
“thanked
Plaintiffs
for
agreeing
to
the
Request.”
You
miss
100
percent
of
the
shots
you
don’t
take.
And,
presumably,
he
thought
providing
opposing
counsel
an
opportunity
to
come
to
their
senses
might
provide
everyone
an
off-ramp.
Instead,
they
doubled
down.
It’s
unclear
who
ordered
this
unprofessional
code
red.
The
other
side
is
represented
by
Quinn
Emanuel,
Kirkland,
and
Young
Conaway.
One
would’ve
hoped
some
lawyer
in
that
triumvirate
would’ve
stepped
up
to
counsel
against
acting
like
douchebags,
but
here
we
are.
Deadlines
matter,
of
course,
but
this
is
not
a
discovery
dispute
where
someone
“forgot”
to
review
a
million
emails.
This
is
the
emergency
birth
of
a
child.
Judges
shouldn’t
need
to
police
this.
If
I
were
asked
to
waste
my
time
on
an
extension
the
parties
should’ve
worked
out
themselves,
I’d
be
pretty
pissed
to
learn
it
got
held
up
because
one
side
tried
to
use
the
lawyer’s
personal
emergency
as
leverage
to
make
the
client
compromise
their
rights.
According
to
the
docket,
there’s
now
an
omnibus
hearing
scheduled,
but
just
because
everyone
ultimately
agreed
doesn’t
make
it
acceptable
to
condition
the
extension
on
it
in
the
first
place.
This
is
just
asshole
behavior.
This
is
why
no
one
likes
lawyers.
Thankfully,
the
couple’s
second
child
was
born
on
August
16
and
have
already
been
released
from
the
hospital.
(Check
out
the
filing
on
the
next
page…)
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
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