The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has seeked permission to file an ‘omnibus’ motion, which will limit the testimony of 10 experts who were retained by Ripple Labs and their executives, Garlinghouse, and Larsen.
An ‘omnibus’ motion is a type of legal motion with multiple requests. Legal motions enable the parties to introduce or bring in other issues related to the case in a systematic manner. It can be introduced at any point of the trial.
Omnibus motion saves a lot of time for the court and the party which brings in the motion. If most of the requests are found to be reasonable by the court, then all of the requests are granted, even the controversial ones.
SEC has requested authorization to write up to 120 pages. Ripple has not objected to it, whereas they have asked for the same privilege to be provided to them during the opposition filing.
The experts have filed 500-page reports and rebuttals, excluding exhibits, regarding numerous subject matters involved in the ongoing case. The plaintiffs have proposed to combine and file one long brief rather than filing 10 separate motions.
The SEC lawyers have been criticized for their actions. John Deaton has opined that the plaintiff’s lawyers lack logical strategy. In the latest tweet, he opined that their latest request showcases the “wet noodle approach” – throw everything against the wall and see what sticks.
There has been zero to no progress in the Ripple-SEC lawsuit. The judge in the case has ruled on a couple of motions, but most of these motions have merely been granted or rejected as per the involved parties’ requests.
