Birch Shipping Ltd. v. O.W. Bunker China Ltd.

Background

Birch Shipping Ltd. was the plaintiff, and Chemoil Latin America Inc. and ING Bank N.V. were the defendants. On February 5, 2021, the parties informed the court that they had reached a settlement in principle.

Orders

The court canceled all previously scheduled conferences and other deadlines. It ordered that the action would be dismissed with prejudice on April 9, 2021, unless one or more parties filed a letter before that date asking the court not to dismiss the action and explaining why dismissal was inappropriate in light of the settlement. The order stated that a request filed on or after April 9 could be denied solely because it was late.

If the parties wanted the court to retain jurisdiction—that is, continuing authority—to enforce their settlement agreement, they had to submit the agreement and a request for an order expressly retaining jurisdiction by April 2, 2021.

The court further ordered that, upon dismissal, the Clerk of Court would disburse the deposited amount plus interest. By April 9, the parties had to jointly tell the court how much each party should receive, the payees for the checks, and the addresses where the checks should be sent.

Disposition and Significance

This was a case-management and settlement-related order, not a decision on the merits of the parties’ dispute. The court did not dismiss the action immediately; it set a future dismissal with prejudice unless a timely request prevented it. Judge Valerie Caproni issued the order.