S. v. New York City Department Of Education

Background

The defendant’s counsel wrote to Judge Cronan about a case in which the plaintiff seeks only attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses for work performed during an administrative hearing under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and for work in the federal action. The court had previously ordered the parties to participate in mediation.

Defendant’s request

The defendant asked to be relieved of the mediation requirement. According to the letter, the defendant believed that the Cuddy Law Firm was unwilling to negotiate a settlement in good faith in this and other fee-only cases. The defendant argued that mediation would only generate additional billable hours and asked the court to require the parties to submit a briefing schedule by August 20, 2021, if the case was not resolved by then.

The letter described the defendant’s account of earlier settlement communications and cited other fee cases involving the Cuddy Law Firm. Those assertions were made by the defendant; the text provided does not show that the court adopted them as findings.

Court action

Judge Cronan directed the plaintiff to respond to the defendant’s letter by the stated deadline. The provided text does not contain a ruling granting or denying the request to cancel mediation, and it does not establish whether mediation remained required after the response deadline.

Disposition

The court’s action shown here is a directive for a response, not a decision on the parties’ underlying attorney-fee dispute or on the defendant’s request to end mediation.