FIRE GROUND TECHNOLOGIES, LLC v. HOMETOWN RESTORATION, LLC
- Vincent Briccetti
- 7:22-cv-04558
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Fire Ground Technologies v. Hometown Restoration, Judge Briccetti transferred the related contract case to Bankruptcy Judge Drain and terminated the transfer motions.
The parties to the breach-of-contract action, Hometown Restoration’s bankruptcy estate, and the bankruptcy court that will consider the deferred issues.
What happened
Fire Ground Technologies, LLC and NYC Police Officer Lawrence Cohen sued Hometown Restoration, LLC and Thomas A. Keith over a breach-of-contract action that had been removed from New Jersey state court and transferred to the Southern District of New York. Hometown Restoration was the debtor in a pending bankruptcy case before Bankruptcy Judge Robert D. Drain.
Hometown Restoration asked the court to transfer this action to Judge Drain because it was related to the bankruptcy case. The court agreed that the action could affect Hometown Restoration’s bankruptcy estate. It did not decide whether removal was proper, whether the contract action was a core or non-core bankruptcy matter, or whether the case should be remanded or severed.
Judge Vincent L. Briccetti ordered the Clerk to transfer the case to Bankruptcy Judge Robert D. Drain under the federal bankruptcy referral statute and the Southern District’s standing referral order. The court also directed the Clerk to terminate Hometown Restoration’s letter motions.
The detailed version
- FIRE GROUND TECHNOLOGIES, LLC v. HOMETOWN RESTORATION, LLC · No. 7:22-cv-04558
- Vincent Briccetti
- June 23, 2022
Background
Fire Ground Technologies, LLC and NYC Police Officer Lawrence Cohen, individually, brought a breach-of-contract action against Hometown Restoration, LLC and Thomas A. Keith, individually. Hometown Restoration removed the action from the Superior Court of New Jersey to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Hometown Restoration was also the debtor in a pending bankruptcy case before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert D. Drain.
Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre later transferred the action to the Southern District of New York, with the expectation that it would be referred to the bankruptcy court in White Plains. Judge Wettre deferred to the bankruptcy court on whether removal was proper, whether the state-court contract action was a core or non-core bankruptcy matter, and whether the bankruptcy court would hear the case or remand it to the Superior Court of New Jersey.
Transfer to the Bankruptcy Court
Hometown Restoration filed letter motions asking that this action be transferred to Judge Drain as a case related to the bankruptcy case under 28 U.S.C. § 157(a). That statute permits a district court to refer bankruptcy cases and proceedings related to bankruptcy cases to bankruptcy judges. The Southern District of New York’s amended standing order of reference makes that referral for cases under Title 11 and proceedings related to such cases.
The court applied the standard that a case is related to a bankruptcy case when its outcome could affect the debtor’s rights, liabilities, options, or freedom of action, and could affect the administration of the bankruptcy estate. The court concluded that this breach-of-contract action could have a conceivable effect on Hometown Restoration’s bankruptcy estate.
Disposition
The court ordered the Clerk to transfer the case to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert D. Drain as related to Hometown Restoration’s bankruptcy case. The court expressly deferred to Judge Drain all remaining issues concerning remand or severance, including the severance issue raised in the plaintiffs’ letters. The Clerk was also directed to terminate Hometown Restoration’s letter motions, docket entries 13 and 15.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.