UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION DETROIT In re: COLLINS & AIKMAN CORPORATION,

, et al., Debtors. _______________________________________ Chapter 11 Case No. 05-55927 (SWR) (Jointly Administered) Hon. Steven W. Rhodes

COMMENTS ON PROPOSED ORDER REGARDING MEDIATION Dickinson Wright PLLC represents defendants in over fifty (50) of the Adversary Proceedings and submits these comments on the proposed Order Regarding Mediation on behalf of those defendants. 1. Paragraph 2 of the proposed Order states that '[t]he appointed mediator

may delegate the mediation duties established herein within the mediator's firm." Parties to adversary proceedings who elect mediation are typically given the opportunity to select and agree upon a particular person to act as mediator. Under the proposed Order, this selection opportunity is given instead to the appointed mediator who may delegate the mediation duties to any person in his firm, without the parties having an opportunity to object to such delegation. This is particularly troubling if the actual While other duties may be

mediation proceeding is conducted by a delegate.

delegated, the delegate should not conduct the mediation proceedings accept upon the mutual agreement of the parties. 2. Paragraph 4 requires that both parties to an Adversary Proceeding must

agree in writing to postpone mediation until after the close of discovery. Thus, unless both parties agree and so request in writing, mediation can be scheduled before the

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close of discovery. This may put a party at a disadvantage in mediation if that party has outstanding discovery requests that have not be responded to by the adverse party, yet the adverse party refuses to agree to postpone mediation until after the close of discovery. This issue can be alleviated if mediation is postponed upon the written

request of either party instead of by agreement of both parties. 3. Paragraph 5 requires that mediations occur within 120 days of the The earliest Mediation Commencement Date is

Mediation Commencement Date.

November 30, 2007. Therefore, the earliest deadline before which mediations must occur is March 31, 2007. For Track III cases, the discovery deadline is March 15, 2008. If the parties elect to postpone mediation until after the close of discovery, mediation must be scheduled within the 16-day period between March 15 and March 31, 2008. It is unclear whether paragraph 4 extends the deadline for mediation for 60 days following the discovery deadline, giving the parties until May 16, 2008 to complete mediation. Clarification between the interaction of paragraphs 4 and 5 is needed. 4. Under paragraph 16, the expectation of the number of mediations that can

be conducted per day seems ambitious unless the appointed mediators are delegating the mediation proceedings to other members of their respective firms. As noted above, the parties should not be required to accept a delegate not of the parties' choosing, unless upon mutual consent.

October 15, 2007

DICKINSON WRIGHT PLLC By: /s/ Dawn R. Copley Dawn R. Copley (P53343) 500 Woodward Avenue, Suite 4000 Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 223-3500 dcopley@dickinsonwright.com

DETROIT 99999-0 1011318v1