{"id":131936,"date":"2025-08-25T07:45:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T15:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/25\/lawyers-hold-newborn-for-ransom-in-scheduling-dispute\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T07:45:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T15:45:14","slug":"lawyers-hold-newborn-for-ransom-in-scheduling-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/25\/lawyers-hold-newborn-for-ransom-in-scheduling-dispute\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawyers Hold Newborn For Ransom In Scheduling Dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"

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 \u201cmy wife is in the hospital being medically induced eight months into pregnancy\u201d were apparently met with: Sure \u2014 but only if you cave on this other procedural demand we\u2019ve been pestering you with.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nothing says professionalism and collegiality like a hostage negotiation with a newborn as collateral!<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s back up. Byju Alpha<\/em> is a Chapter 11 proceeding in Delaware. As the defendants prepared a reply for the motion to dismiss, Delaware counsel learned that his wife\u2019s pregnancy required a medically necessary induction. Between hospital delays, shuttling back and forth with Maternal Fetal Medicine, and the whole \u201cbringing an actual human life into the world\u201d thing, counsel wasn\u2019t in a position to assist with the reply brief and sought an extension. This is not a frivolous extension to go watch football<\/a> or catch a baseball game<\/a>. An induced, 8-month pregnancy is no joke.<\/p>\n

On August 18, counsel asked the other side for another couple days to get everything in order. According to the filing, here\u2019s what happened next.<\/p>\n

\n

7. Plaintiffs\u2019 counsel replied to Defendants\u2019 counsel\u2019s Request that Plaintiffs would agree to an extension if Defendants\u2019 counsel would agree on an omnibus hearing for all outstanding motions in this Action \u2013 a proposal Plaintiffs\u2019 counsel had first made to Defendants\u2019 counsel last week.<\/p>\n

8. Defendants\u2019 counsel understood that Plaintiffs\u2019 counsel was conditioning its support for the Request on Defendants providing them with an answer concerning Plaintiffs\u2019 omnibus hearing proposal. Defendants\u2019 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 email Defendants\u2019 counsel thanked Plaintiffs for agreeing to the Request.<\/p>\n

9. Plaintiffs\u2019 counsel responded that it had not agreed to Defendant\u2019s Request, and that it only would do so if Defendants agreed to an omnibus hearing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

You\u2019ve got to appreciate that counsel \u201cunderstood that Plaintiffs\u2019 counsel was conditioning its support,\u201d but went ahead and \u201cthanked Plaintiffs for agreeing to the Request.\u201d You miss 100 percent of the shots you don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear who ordered this unprofessional code red. The other side is represented by Quinn Emanuel, Kirkland, and Young Conaway. One would\u2019ve hoped some lawyer in that triumvirate would\u2019ve stepped up to counsel against acting like douchebags, but here we are.<\/p>\n

Deadlines matter, of course, but this is not a discovery dispute where someone \u201cforgot\u201d to review a million emails. This is the emergency birth of a child<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Judges shouldn\u2019t need to police this. If I were asked to waste my time on an extension the parties should\u2019ve worked out themselves, I\u2019d be pretty pissed to learn it got held up because one side tried to use the lawyer\u2019s personal emergency as leverage to make the client compromise their rights. According to the docket, there\u2019s now an omnibus hearing scheduled, but just because everyone ultimately agreed doesn\u2019t make it acceptable to condition the extension on it in the first place.<\/p>\n

This is just asshole behavior. This is why no one likes lawyers.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the couple\u2019s second child was born on August 16 and have already been released from the hospital.<\/p>\n

(Check out the filing on the next page\u2026)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The post Lawyers Hold Newborn For Ransom In Scheduling Dispute<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

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 \u201cmy wife is in the hospital being medically induced eight months into pregnancy\u201d were apparently met with: Sure \u2014 but only if you cave on this other procedural demand we\u2019ve been pestering you with.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nothing says professionalism and collegiality like a hostage negotiation with a newborn as collateral!<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s back up. Byju Alpha<\/em> is a Chapter 11 proceeding in Delaware. As the defendants prepared a reply for the motion to dismiss, Delaware counsel learned that his wife\u2019s pregnancy required a medically necessary induction. Between hospital delays, shuttling back and forth with Maternal Fetal Medicine, and the whole \u201cbringing an actual human life into the world\u201d thing, counsel wasn\u2019t in a position to assist with the reply brief and sought an extension. This is not a frivolous extension to go watch football<\/a> or catch a baseball game<\/a>. An induced, 8-month pregnancy is no joke.<\/p>\n

On August 18, counsel asked the other side for another couple days to get everything in order. According to the filing, here\u2019s what happened next.<\/p>\n

\n

7. Plaintiffs\u2019 counsel replied to Defendants\u2019 counsel\u2019s Request that Plaintiffs would agree to an extension if Defendants\u2019 counsel would agree on an omnibus hearing for all outstanding motions in this Action \u2013 a proposal Plaintiffs\u2019 counsel had first made to Defendants\u2019 counsel last week.<\/p>\n

8. Defendants\u2019 counsel understood that Plaintiffs\u2019 counsel was conditioning its support for the Request on Defendants providing them with an answer concerning Plaintiffs\u2019 omnibus hearing proposal. Defendants\u2019 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 email Defendants\u2019 counsel thanked Plaintiffs for agreeing to the Request.<\/p>\n

9. Plaintiffs\u2019 counsel responded that it had not agreed to Defendant\u2019s Request, and that it only would do so if Defendants agreed to an omnibus hearing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

You\u2019ve got to appreciate that counsel \u201cunderstood that Plaintiffs\u2019 counsel was conditioning its support,\u201d but went ahead and \u201cthanked Plaintiffs for agreeing to the Request.\u201d You miss 100 percent of the shots you don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear who ordered this unprofessional code red. The other side is represented by Quinn Emanuel, Kirkland, and Young Conaway. One would\u2019ve hoped some lawyer in that triumvirate would\u2019ve stepped up to counsel against acting like douchebags, but here we are.<\/p>\n

Deadlines matter, of course, but this is not a discovery dispute where someone \u201cforgot\u201d to review a million emails. This is the emergency birth of a child<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Judges shouldn\u2019t need to police this. If I were asked to waste my time on an extension the parties should\u2019ve worked out themselves, I\u2019d be pretty pissed to learn it got held up because one side tried to use the lawyer\u2019s personal emergency as leverage to make the client compromise their rights. According to the docket, there\u2019s now an omnibus hearing scheduled, but just because everyone ultimately agreed doesn\u2019t make it acceptable to condition the extension on it in the first place.<\/p>\n

This is just asshole behavior. This is why no one likes lawyers.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the couple\u2019s second child was born on August 16 and have already been released from the hospital.<\/p>\n

(Check out the filing on the next page\u2026)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1<\/strong> 2<\/a>Next \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u201cmy wife is in the hospital being medically induced eight months into pregnancy\u201d were apparently met with: Sure \u2014 but only if you cave […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131936\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}