Brown v. R.N. Trading Inc.
- Rochon
- 1:25-cv-04021
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Brown v. R.N. Trading Inc., Judge Rochon ordered settlement discussions and a joint status letter, without deciding the case’s merits.
Plaintiff Altane Brown and defendants R.N. Trading Inc. and First Sigma DE LLC, who must participate in the ordered settlement discussions and joint letter.
What happened
Brown v. R.N. Trading Inc. is an order requiring the parties to try to settle the case. Within 30 days after the summons and complaint are served, Altane Brown, R.N. Trading Inc., and First Sigma DE LLC must meet for at least one hour and make a good-faith effort to settle.
The parties must discuss whether Brown has met the threshold requirement of having standing to bring the case. If they cannot settle themselves, they must also discuss whether court-connected mediation or a settlement conference before a magistrate judge would be useful.
Within 45 days after service, the parties must file a joint letter stating whether they settled. If not, they must ask either for mediation or a magistrate-judge settlement conference, indicating their preference, or for an initial status conference. Judge Jennifer L. Rochon did not decide standing or the merits.
The detailed version
- Brown v. R.N. Trading Inc. · No. 1:25-cv-04021
- Rochon
- May 15, 2025
Order
The court ordered the parties to meet and confer within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint. The meeting must last at least one hour and must involve a good-faith effort to settle the action.
Issues to Discuss
During the settlement discussions, the parties must consider whether plaintiff Altane Brown has satisfied the threshold requirement of standing, meaning the legal requirement to show that the plaintiff is entitled to bring the case. The court cited decisions discussing standing. The order does not decide whether Brown has standing.
If the parties cannot settle on their own, they must also discuss whether further settlement discussions through the court’s mediation program or before a magistrate judge would be productive at that time.
Required Joint Letter
Within 15 additional days—45 days after service of the summons and complaint—the parties must submit a joint letter stating whether they settled. If they did not settle, the letter must request either referral to mediation or to a magistrate judge for a settlement conference, with a preference between those options, or an initial status conference.
Disposition
This is a procedural case-management order. It does not resolve standing, liability, or any other merits issue.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.