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Case 1:20-cv-02484-DG Document 60 Filed 08/19/20 Page 8 of 13
Here, Maxwell was indicted by a grand jury on June 29, 2020; she has been detained pending her criminal trial; and her trial date has been set. (8/19/20 Menninger Ltr., at 2.) Should discovery in the civil action proceed, Maxwell would be forced to decide whether to defend herself by making pretrial disclosures and giving deposition testimony (which could be used against her in the criminal case) or to invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination (which would protect her in the criminal case, but which could well result in an adverse inference being drawn against her in the civil case). (See id., at 4; see also Louis Vuitton Malletier, 676 F.3d at 97-98 (discussing the burdens to the Fifth Amendment privilege that may be posed by parallel proceedings).) This legitimate concern, made more real and immediate by the active posture of criminal case, militates in favor of a stay.
3. The Interests of the Plaintiff
Plaintiff asserts that staying this proceeding would harm her interests because, as she is suffering "ongoing damaging effects" from the alleged abuse, and she should not have to wait any longer to hold Defendants accountable. (8/27/20 Glassman Ltr., at 4.) While, as a general matter, plaintiffs have a strong interest in the expeditious resolution of their civil claims, see Volmar Distributors, 152 F.R.D. at 40, Plaintiff here has not advanced any particularized reason why a delay would cause her prejudice, such as a likely loss of physical evidence or witness testimony during the period of a stay. (See 8/19/20 Menninger Ltr., at 1 (noting that "there is little chance that any evidence will be lost in the interim given the age of the accusations in this case"); see also id., at 4.)
Additionally, although this Court is not suggesting that Plaintiff has any obligation to agree to a stay so as to pursue her claims through the Compensation Program (and, in fact, recognizes that she does not), this Court does note that a stay would not entirely hinder Plaintiff
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