The Lawsuit

[plinsenmayer at yahoo.com]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C1274
From: plinsenmayer
Subject: The Lawsuit
Date: 5/10/00 6:31 pm  (ET)

I would bet all kinds of money that the Stouffer lawsuit gets dismissed
at a very early stage. In some states, it's easy to follow a federal
trial online through electronic case filings. I checked that out when I
first heard of the Stouffer case a month or two ago. Turns out that PA
federal courts do have electronic case filing, but you have to pay for
access to their filings. Since this is the only lawsuit pending in PA
in which I have the slightest interest, I decided not to cough up any
money to follow the pleadings.

Anyway, I would guess that as soon as possible, the defense lawyers
for JKR and Scholastic will file a motion for summary judgment, and the
judge will throw the case out well before it proceeds to trial. Since
she filed the suit sometime in March as I recall, the defense probably
took until sometime in April to file their answer (you usually have 30
days). They will likely soon file motions to dismiss. I would bet we'll
see a press release from Scholastic before too long.

Penny