FAT Brands Inc. v. PPMT Capital Advisors, Ltd.
- Jesse Furman
- 1:19-cv-10497-JMF
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In FAT Brands v. PPMT Capital Advisors, Judge Furman said counsel remained on record and set deadlines for opposing final judgment.
FAT Brands Inc.; the SJ Global Defendants; Wesley Ramjeet; PPMT Capital Advisors, Ltd.; Royal Gulf Capital Corporation; Karl Douglas; and counsel for the SJ Global Defendants.
What happened
FAT Brands Inc. v. PPMT Capital Advisors, Ltd. followed the court’s earlier dismissal of claims against several defendants. Claims against PPMT Capital Advisors, Ltd., Royal Gulf Capital Corporation, and Karl Douglas remained pending.
FAT Brands asked the court to enter final judgment against the dismissed defendants. The lawyers for the SJ Global defendants had also said they no longer represented those defendants, although no approved withdrawal had occurred.
Judge Jesse M. Furman said the lawyers remained counsel of record until final judgment was entered or the court approved a withdrawal. He set deadlines for responses to the final-judgment motion and ordered the lawyers to explain by January 29, 2021, if they believed they were no longer counsel of record.
The detailed version
- FAT Brands Inc. v. PPMT Capital Advisors, Ltd. · No. 1:19-cv-10497-JMF
- Jesse Furman
- Jan. 22, 2021
Background
On January 5, 2021, the court granted motions to dismiss filed by SJ Global Investments Worldwide, Ltd.; SJ Global Investments, Ltd.; Peter Samuel; Neil Walsh; Kristina Fields; Mickey Edison; and Wesley Ramjeet. The opinion calls the first group the “SJ Global Defendants.” Claims against PPMT Capital Advisors, Ltd., Royal Gulf Capital Corporation, and Karl Douglas remained pending.
FAT Brands then moved for entry of final judgment against the SJ Global Defendants and Ramjeet. The court set February 4, 2021, as the deadline for any opposition and February 11, 2021, as the deadline for any reply.
Counsel’s Status
Counsel for the SJ Global Defendants had moved to withdraw on December 14, 2020. The court had denied that motion as moot in its January 5 opinion and order granting the motions to dismiss. Despite counsel’s January 19 letter stating that counsel no longer represented the SJ Global Defendants, the court stated that counsel remained counsel of record until final judgment was entered or the court approved a withdrawal under Local Rule 1.4.
Ruling
Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered that, if counsel believed they were entitled to end the representation without the court’s permission, they had to file a letter explaining why they were no longer counsel of record by January 29, 2021. This order did not decide FAT Brands’s motion for final judgment; it set briefing deadlines for that motion and addressed counsel’s status.
Classification Basis
This is a procedural order because it addressed briefing and attorney representation rather than deciding the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.