As we previously reported, on March 25, 2024, three consumer financial services industry trade groups filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Colorado challenging legislation recently adopted to opt out of rate exportation rights afforded to state banks under federal law. National Association of Industrial Bankers et al. v. Weiser et al., Civil Action No. 1:24-cv-00812, U.S.D.C. Colorado, now has been assigned to Judge Daniel D. Domenico. Judge Domenico, appointed by then-President Donald Trump, joined the Colorado U.S. District Court bench in 2019. From 2006 to 2015, Judge Domenico served as Colorado’s Solicitor General.
Judge Domenico has assigned Magistrate Judge Kathryn A. Starnella to oversee scheduling, conduct status conferences, hear and determine pretrial matters including discovery and other non-dispositive motions, conduct hearings including evidentiary hearings, submit proposed findings of fact and recommendations for rulings on dispositive motions, and “convene such early neutral evaluation and/or settlement conferences and direct related procedures as may facilitate resolution of this case”. Magistrate Judge Starnella, who previously worked at the Colorado Attorney General’s office and in private practice, began work as a Magistrate Judge in August 2023.
We will continue to monitor and report on developments in this critically important case.