Brief Supporting Motion to Expe Appeal

IN THE

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

_______

NO. ________

_______

______________,

vs. Plaintiff-Appellee,

___________________, INC./

___________________,

and _____________________ COMPANY, Defendants-Appellants,

_______

MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF

UNOPPOSED MOTION TO EXPEDITE APPEAL

To Said Honorable Court:

I. SUMMARY OF FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

__________, Plaintiff/Appellee ("Plaintiff") sold securities and insurance on behalf of Defendants. To assist Plaintiff in making those sales, he became licensed by the National Association of Security Dealers ("NASD"). As part of that licensing requirement, Plaintiff agreed in writing to abide by all NASD rules. Those rules specifically require arbitration of employment disputes. Pursuant to those rules, the Federal Arbitration Act and Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp., Defendants filed a motion to compel arbitration, which the district court denied.

Defendants filed a motion to stay proceedings in the district court pending Defendants' appeal to the Fifth Circuit. The district court denied that motion. Defendants filed an Emergency Motion for Temporary Stay Pending Appeal to the Fifth Circuit, which this Court denied.

II. ARGUMENT

Fifth Circuit rules provide that this Court "may on its own motion or for good cause shown on motion of either party advance any case for hearing..." Fifth Circuit Local Rule 34.5. See also Fifth Circuit Local Rule 27.2.11.

The sole issue of Defendants' appeal is whether Defendants are entitled to have all proceedings in the district court stayed pending binding arbitration. If Defendants prevail on their appeal, the time, costs and attorney's fees that the parties are incurring while the district court proceedings continue will have been unnecessary.

The parties are put in the awkward position of having to prepare for trial in the district court--even though this matter may ultimately be referred to arbitration and resolved without further activity in the district court.

All parties to this appeal wish to minimize the time, costs and attorney's fees they would incur in proceeding with extensive discovery and other matters in the district court, in the event that the Fifth Circuit reverses the trial court and compels arbitration.

For all these reasons, all parties to this appeal would benefit from an expedited decision or hearing of this matter. Expediting the appeal could conserve the...