Porricelli v. Midland Credit Management, Inc.
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:19-cv-07992
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Porricelli v. Midland, Judge Engelmayer ordered Midland to produce an assignment agreement before deciding its motion to compel arbitration.
The defendants must submit the assignment agreement and identify relevant provisions; Porricelli must state whether she continues to oppose the motion to compel arbitration. The order also affects public access to the agreement if the defendants seek permission to file an unredacted version under seal.
What happened
In Porricelli v. Midland Credit Management, Inc., the court considered a pending motion to require arbitration and enforcement of a class-action waiver. The court had not yet decided that motion.
The defendants had not provided the agreement that supposedly assigned Midland the right to enforce the arbitration provision and class-action waiver. Porricelli argued that the agreement was necessary to resolve whether Midland had that authority and noted that limited information-gathering could be used if needed.
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer ordered Midland to file a supplemental declaration attaching the assignment agreement and identifying relevant provisions. He also ordered Porricelli to tell the court whether she still opposed arbitration. The court allowed the defendants to file an unredacted version under seal and a lightly redacted public version if the agreement contained material justifying redaction.
The detailed version
- Porricelli v. Midland Credit Management, Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-07992
- Paul Engelmayer
- May 27, 2020
Background
Lisa Porricelli brought this putative class action against Midland Credit Management Inc., Midland Funding, LLC, and Encore Capital Group, Inc. The defendants had a pending motion to compel arbitration, meaning they asked the court to require the dispute to be resolved through arbitration rather than in court. The motion also concerned enforcement of a class-action waiver.
Issue and party positions
The court noted that the defendants had not submitted the agreement under which Midland was supposedly assigned the right to enforce the relevant arbitration provision and class-action waiver. Porricelli pointed out that, in the cases on which Midland relied, either the assignee had submitted contractual language establishing the assignment or the plaintiff had not disputed the assignment. Porricelli also stated that, if the court could not decide the motion because the agreement had not been produced, limited information-gathering would be the appropriate remedy.
Order
The court did not grant or deny the motion to compel arbitration in this order. Instead, it directed Midland to file a supplemental declaration by May 29, 2020, attaching the assignment agreement and directing the court to any relevant provisions. It directed Porricelli to file a letter by June 2, 2020, stating whether she continued to oppose the motion.
The court also permitted the defendants, if the agreement contained material unrelated to the assignment's scope that justified redaction, to file an unredacted version electronically under seal for court viewing. In that event, the defendants were directed to promptly file a lightly redacted public version as well. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.