Baby-Cakes Studio LLC v. Robinson

Background

Baby-Cakes Studio, LLC filed a letter concerning discovery and service issues in its action against Linetta Robinson and Bryant Lamont Johnson. The dispute initially involved one painting by Nathaniel Mary Quinn. During discovery, the plaintiff said it learned that two additional Quinn paintings were also in Robinson's possession and that Robinson claimed to own them. The plaintiff amended its complaint to assert ownership claims concerning the additional paintings and to add Johnson as a defendant for allegedly aiding and abetting Robinson's conversion of the three works.

The plaintiff described testimony and document-production problems that it said undermined Robinson's account of how she acquired the paintings. According to the letter, Robinson determined what documents to produce without counsel's assistance, and the plaintiff claimed that her production was incomplete. The plaintiff also asserted that Robinson's counsel had agreed to additional document production and to release the two additional paintings to a qualified art handler for safekeeping, but that neither commitment had been completed. The plaintiff said a scheduled pickup of the paintings was canceled shortly before it was to occur.

Requests in the Letter

The plaintiff requested an urgent conference concerning the paintings and discovery. It asked the court to order Robinson to produce responsive documents under agreed search procedures, place the additional paintings under the control of an agreed third party for safekeeping, and require Robinson to pay the shipping costs resulting from the canceled pickup.

The plaintiff also described difficulties serving Johnson. It stated that it had served the summons and amended complaint at Johnson's studio under New York law and had sent copies by email. To avoid a later service dispute, it asked the court to permit substituted service by email and to hold that Johnson was served as of April 12, 2021.

Ruling

The court found that an emergency conference would be inappropriate because Robinson represented that many of the issues were premature and because a settlement conference was scheduled for April 21, 2021. The court scheduled a case-management conference for May 24, 2021, at 11:30 a.m. to address all outstanding discovery disputes. It also directed the parties' counsel to submit a joint status letter no longer than three pages two business days before the conference and to call the court's conference line at the scheduled time. The text provided does not state a separate ruling on the requested substituted service by email or on the requested orders concerning document production, safekeeping, or shipping costs.