Williams v. Sorate Soho Corp.
- Rochon
- 1:25-cv-06600
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Williams v. Sorate Soho Corp., Judge Rochon ordered settlement discussions and a joint status letter, without deciding standing or the merits.
Jeffrey Williams, Sorate Soho Corp., and KRP Corporation must comply with the settlement-discussion and joint-letter requirements after service of the summons and complaint.
What happened
In Williams v. Sorate Soho Corp., the court ordered the parties to try to settle the case after the summons and complaint are served.
Within 30 days of service, the parties must meet for at least one hour and discuss settlement in good faith. They must also discuss whether Jeffrey Williams has met the legal requirement of standing, meaning a sufficient connection to bring the case, and whether additional settlement discussions would help.
If the case is not settled, the parties must submit a joint letter within 45 days of service. Judge Rochon ordered them to request either mediation or a settlement conference before a magistrate judge, or an initial status conference. The order did not decide standing or the merits of the claims.
The detailed version
- Williams v. Sorate Soho Corp. · No. 1:25-cv-06600
- Rochon
- Aug. 13, 2025
Order
The court entered a case-management and settlement order. It did not resolve any claim, decide whether the plaintiff has standing, or address the merits of the dispute.
Required Settlement Discussions
Within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint, the parties must meet and confer for at least one hour in a good-faith effort to settle the action. The parties must discuss whether Jeffrey Williams has satisfied the threshold requirement of standing, meaning the legal requirement that a plaintiff have a sufficient connection to the dispute to bring the case. The order cited Calcano v. Swarovski N. Am. Ltd. and Harty v. W. Point Realty, Inc. as examples concerning standing.
If the parties cannot settle the case themselves, they must also discuss whether further settlement discussions through the court-annexed mediation program or before a magistrate judge would be productive at that time.
Joint Letter and Next Steps
Within 15 additional days—45 days after service of the summons and complaint—the parties must submit a joint letter stating whether they have settled. If they have not settled, the letter must ask the court either to refer the case to mediation or to a magistrate judge for a settlement conference, while stating the parties' preference, or to proceed with an initial status conference.
Disposition
Judge Rochon ordered the settlement discussions and joint-letter process. The opinion contains no ruling on standing or on the underlying claims.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.