A conference was held yesterday with Judge Brown, whose court is
handling the remaining issues from the OCA bankruptcy. Judge Vance,
the local District Court (federal) judge who is handling any possible
jury trials, appears to have been waiting until further discovery has
been done before she considered "withdrawing the reference" and
moving selected cases to her court for jury trials.

The good news? A number of docs may finally have a shot at a jury
trial. The bad news? It looks like a 2 year time line before any
cases can actually be tried due to a backlogged court calendar. It
may be possible to bring a Motion for Summary Judgment which would
drastically reduce the timeline. But that remains to be seen.

The doctors who appear to have a shot at moving to Judge Vance's
court are those who:

1. Haven't filed a "proof of claim" with Judge Brown's court. (I
know there were attempts to withdraw previously filed "proofs
of claim" in the past. I dont know if anyone has succeeded.

2. Have requested a jury trial.

3. Have not otherwise subjected themselves to the bankruptcy
court's jurisdiction.

Everyone is still awaiting an outcome on the Hector Bush trial. That
trial will presumably set the stage for how Judge Brown will view
other cases which remain in his courtroom jurisdiction. It's been
several months now, which would presumably give Judge Brown plenty of
time to make a decision. However, federal judges are given lifetime
appointments, which allows them a lot of latitude in how they choose
to handle any given case. The only way to get a federal (district or
bankruptcy court) judge off the bench is through a full blown
impeachment trial in the United States Congress. That is about as
secure a job as a member of the legal profession could hope for. I'd
assume that Judge Brown is awaiting other developments before he says
anything in the Bush matter?

The forgoing is entirely my own, personal, non-lawyer's opinion. For
legal advice, consult a licensed attorney.