Caballero de la Cruz v. Pastrami Prince Inc.

Background

On December 22, 2022, Judge John Cronan referred the case to Judge James L. Cott to conduct an inquest into damages. On January 6, 2023, Judge Cronan entered a default judgment against Pastrami Prince Inc., 1125 Kosher Deli Corp., Steven Friedman, Barry Friedman, and Thierno Sisse.

Judge Cronan found liability on causes of action one through eight as to Carmelo Caballero de la Cruz, Arnulfo Vazquez Basurto, and Raymundo Vazquez Angel. He found liability on cause of action nine as to Arnulfo Vazquez Basurto and Raymundo Vazquez Angel. He found no liability on causes of action ten and eleven, and no liability on any claim brought by Omar Espinobarros Vazquez. Judge Cronan also ruled that liability for each cause of action extended only through December 21, 2018, and that the plaintiffs who could recover were entitled to prejudgment interest and liquidated damages where applicable under the law.

Damages Inquest

Judge Cott explained that a defendant’s default does not automatically establish the amount of damages. Plaintiffs still had to provide admissible evidence allowing the court to determine damages with reasonable certainty.

The order required plaintiffs to serve the defendants and file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law by February 3, 2023. Their filing had to identify the exact dollar amount or other monetary relief sought, connect each damages figure to a claim on which liability had been established, explain how each figure was calculated, and support the figures with affidavits or documentary evidence. Each proposed factual finding had to cite the supporting affidavit paragraphs or document pages.

Any request for attorneys’ fees had to include contemporaneous time records showing each attorney’s service date, hours, and work performed. Counsel also had to provide information about each attorney’s years of bar admission and hourly rate, appropriate fee charts, the legal basis for the fee request, and documentary support for costs. Plaintiffs could use a memorandum of law instead of conclusions of law, but their papers still had to include an affidavit from a person with personal knowledge and the proposed damages amount.

Ruling and Next Steps

Judge James L. Cott ordered defendants to serve and file any response by February 24, 2023. He notified the parties that he might decide the damages inquest entirely from the written submissions. A party requesting an evidentiary hearing had to explain why written submissions were insufficient and describe the witnesses and evidence that would be presented. The order also required courtesy copies of filed documents to be sent or delivered to Judge Cott.