Well, I believe Rekieta did state on stream that there is no preventing him to ask for a deposition at a later date. So it is just exceptional for him to want that exact date.
I do think it is for "PR" or show for the media aka. Grigsby.
JSL wants the judge to believe that there is a smoking gun out there that proves Vic and Ty KNEW that Vic's suit was total bullshit, but decided to file the suit anyways. In JSL's version of events, Slatosch communicated facts to Ty that showed the Vic lawsuit was flatly bullshit, and Ty didn't care. I'm calling JSL's theory the "Flat Slatosch Conspiracy."
JSL is going to the court asking for permission to get more evidence to prove the "Flat Slatosch Conspiracy." He says that the only people with full knowledge of the conspiracy are Slatosch, who he can't get permission to depose, and Ty, who is generally immune from being required to testify against his client (with exceptions).
An aside here on a legal term: The judge probably sees the Flat Slatosch Conspiracy as a
collateral matter. A collateral matter is a dispute that is loosely related to the dispute in front of the court and doesn't necessarily need to be resolved, but would have some probative effect.
For example: Imagine I'm being sued for sexually harassing my secretary. In testifying for this suit, I'm asked how I got to the office on the day in question. In reality, I drove my car, but I decide to lie and tell the judge/jury/whoever that I jogged to work so everyone thinks I'm a health nut. The secretary's lawyer now wants to put on evidence that I'm a liar on the issue, because being a liar makes me look bad. However, the collateral evidence rule says that the Court can't hear additional evidence on whether I jogged to work or drove my car; it's purely collateral to the question of whether I illegally diddled my secretary.
Back to Vic:
JSL, though he longs to show his Flat Slatosch Conspiracy to the world, can't get the evidence he wants from either Slatosch or Ty. Under normal circumstances, a Judge would say "tough shit," and move on. But this case has been a little exceptional from the outset, and so Chupp is holding off a decision.
In Vic's case, the questions remaining are: 1) "what is the reasonable amount of attorney's fees" and 2) "what is a reasonable sanction to deter Vic from filing additional lawsuits." Slatosch's testimony probably won't effect issue #2, unless it's something really unusualsuch as testimony that "Ty bribed me to lie on this affidavit." Almost anything else Slatosch might say would be collateral evidence; i.e. evidence that is not relevant to the amount to sanction Vic.
In most cases, the chances of a witness offering undisclosed outcome-changing testimony at this stage is so trivial that a judge wouldn't allow for a deposition AFTER ATTORNEY'S FEES HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED. But again, this is an exceptional case.
What Chupp is probably thinking is that JSL has at least some evidence of the Flat Slatosch Conspiracy, otherwise he wouldn't so thirsty for Slatosch's depo. If JSL can convince Chupp that the Flat Slatosch Conspiracy is real, then JSL probably gets his deposition. This should require a lot from JSL; he has to prove at the hearing that Slatosch's likely testimony isn't merely going to show that Slatosch lied in his affidavit, because that would be purely collateral.
Without knowing what cards JSL is holding, it's impossible to know whether this is going to work. And it all may be a bluff, anyways. JSL may not have anything to support his Flat Slatosch Conspiracy, and he's just trying to jerk Ty around. In any event, this Judge will allow the Ty-jerking to continue (for now, at least).