Sookul v. Certified Collectibles Group, LLC
- Rochon
- 1:22-cv-10037
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Sookul v. Certified Collectibles Group, Judge Rochon ordered settlement discussions and a joint status letter but did not decide the case’s merits.
Sanjay Sookul and Certified Collectibles Group, LLC must participate in the required settlement discussions and submit the joint letter required by the court.
What happened
Sanjay Sookul brought this action against Certified Collectibles Group, LLC on behalf of himself and others similarly situated. The court assigned the case to Judge Jennifer L. Rochon for all purposes.
The court ordered the parties to meet for at least one hour within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint, making a good-faith effort to settle. They were also told to discuss whether Sookul had established the required legal standing and whether court-connected mediation or a settlement conference with a magistrate judge would be useful.
Within 15 more days, the parties must submit a joint letter stating whether they settled. If they did not, the letter must ask either for mediation or a magistrate-judge settlement conference, identifying a preference, or for an initial status conference. Judge Rochon did not decide standing or the merits of the case.
The detailed version
- Sookul v. Certified Collectibles Group, LLC · No. 1:22-cv-10037
- Rochon
- Nov. 29, 2022
Order and case posture
The case was brought by Sanjay Sookul on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated against Certified Collectibles Group, LLC. Judge Jennifer L. Rochon stated that the case had been assigned to her for all purposes.
Settlement discussions
The court ordered the parties to meet and confer within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint. The meeting must last at least one hour and must be a good-faith attempt to settle the action. The parties must discuss whether the plaintiff has satisfied the threshold requirement of standing, meaning the legal requirement that a plaintiff be entitled to bring the case. The order cited decisions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concerning standing.
If the parties could not settle on their own, they also had to discuss whether additional settlement discussions through the district court’s court-annexed mediation program or before a magistrate judge would be productive at that time.
Required joint letter
Within 15 additional days—45 days after service of the summons and complaint—the parties must submit a joint letter informing the court whether they settled. If they did not settle, the letter must request either referral to mediation or to a magistrate judge for a settlement conference, and state which option the parties preferred, or an initial status conference.
The order is a case-management and settlement directive. It does not resolve standing, the claims, or the merits of the action.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.