PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – An attorney representing Rhode Island’s economic development agency in its lawsuit over the collapse of Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios said Friday he hopes depositions in the case begin soon.
Economic Development Corp. lawyer Max Wistow said his first notice of deposition went recently to an executive at First Southwest, which served as financial adviser to the agency in its $75 million loan guarantee to the video game company.
First Southwest is among 14 defendants named in the suit filed last year after 38 Studios went bankrupt. Also named are Schilling, former 38 Studios executives and some of the EDC’s own former officials, who worked on the deal.
Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein ruled last month that most of the complaint may go ahead. It alleges fraud, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty, among other things, and claims the EDC board was misled into approving the loan guarantee in 2010.
The state is now responsible for some $90 million related to the deal, which was financed with bonds.
Lawyers for the parties, including the former Boston Red Sox pitcher, were in court on Friday for a status conference on issues that included the collection of documents and the timing of depositions.
Gerald Petros, a lawyer for First Southwest, said he wants more time to gather documents from various parties before depositions begin, but Wistow objected to what he called “any further delays.”
In addition to the defendants, depositions are expected to be taken from former members of the EDC board, state officials, Standard & Poor’s and other third parties, Petros said.
Speaking outside court, Wistow said he feels good about how the case is progressing – though he had once hoped it would go to trial within a year of its filing last November. No trial date has been set.
“We’re hopeful in the end there will be no loss to the taxpayers,” Wistow said.
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