Pena v. 220 East 197 Realty LLC
- James Oetken
- 1:20-cv-07039
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Pena v. 220 East 197 Realty LLC, Judge Oetken denied Pena’s motion to vacate an arbitration order because Rule 60(b) did not apply.
Nelson Pena’s request to vacate the order compelling arbitration and staying the litigation was denied; the opinion also concerns 220 East 197 Realty LLC and the other defendants.
What happened
In Pena v. 220 East 197 Realty LLC, Nelson Pena asked the court to cancel its July 23, 2021 order requiring arbitration and pausing the lawsuit.
The court ruled that Rule 60(b), which allows relief from certain final judgments or orders, did not apply because the arbitration order was not final. The court also said that, even if it treated the request as a motion for reconsideration, it was filed after the 14-day deadline.
Judge James Oetken denied Pena’s motion to vacate and directed the clerk to close the motion.
The detailed version
- Pena v. 220 East 197 Realty LLC · No. 1:20-cv-07039
- James Oetken
- May 3, 2022
Background
Nelson Pena moved under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) to vacate the court’s July 23, 2021 Opinion and Order. That earlier order compelled arbitration and stayed, or paused, the litigation. The opinion states that the defendants included 220 East 197 Realty LLC and other defendants, but it does not provide further factual background because the court presumed familiarity with the earlier order.
Court’s Analysis
Rule 60(b) permits a court to relieve a party from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for specified reasons. The court explained that an order is generally final for Rule 60(b) purposes when it is sufficiently final to be appealed. It held that an order compelling arbitration and staying litigation is not a final judgment, order, or proceeding within Rule 60(b), so that rule did not apply to Pena’s request.
The court added that even if it treated Pena’s filing as a motion for reconsideration under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59, the motion would still be denied as untimely. Southern District of New York Local Rule 6.3 requires such a motion within 14 days after the court’s determination of the original motion. The opinion states that Pena filed his motion 29 days after the July 23, 2021 order.
Ruling
Judge J. Paul Oetken denied Pena’s motion to vacate the July 23, 2021 Opinion and Order. The court directed the clerk to close the motion at Docket Number 23.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.