Case number: 2:23-bk-21460 - NOVO Health Technology Group, LLC - Wisconsin Eastern Bankruptcy Court

Last Friday, June 23, Epic filed a motion under Rule 2004 seeking authorization to serve the debtor with requests for production of documents and depose the debtor's corporate representative. In compliance with this court's local rule, Epic served the motion with notice of a 14-day objection deadline, which sets the objection deadline as July 7, though the motion seeks an order requiring the production of documents on July 10 and a July 17 deposition to be taken live at Quarles & Brady's Madison office -- a location that seems selected purely for the convenience of the creditor and its counsel while almost certainly imposing unnecessary administrative expense on the Fox Valley-based debtor and its Oshkosh-based counsel.

At all events, under these circumstances there is no just reason to delay adjudication of the Rule 2004 motion, and the court anticipates adjudicating that motion at the June 27 hearing, unless, before that hearing, the debtor and Epic reach an agreement and file a stipulation and proposed order governing the extent to which the debtor will comply with Epic's Rule 2004 requests. If those parties have not reached such an agreement by start of the June 27 hearing, they should be prepared to address Epic's motion in detail, including arguing the appropriate scope of each document request, at that hearing.

Counsel for Epic, as well as the debtor, must appear in person or by telephone at the June 27 hearing. To appear by telephone, you must call the court conference line at 1-888-684-8852, and enter access code 7183566 before the scheduled hearing time

s/ G. Michael Halfenger
Chief Bankruptcy Judge

(RE: 55 Chapter 11 Motion In Re: 2004 Examination Motion for an Order Pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 2004 Authorizing Examination of Debtor NOVO Health Technology Group, LLC and Directing Production of Documents). (Halfenger, G.) (Entered: 06/26/2023)