Itria Ventures LLC v. Welcome Group LLC dba America Best Value Inn
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:23-cv-01575
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Judge Caproni remanded Itria Ventures v. Welcome Group to state court and denied Itria Ventures’ request for attorneys’ fees.
Itria Ventures LLC and the defendant entities and individuals named in the case; the action was returned to the Supreme Court of New York, New York County, and Itria Ventures did not receive attorneys’ fees.
What happened
Itria Ventures LLC asked the federal court to send this case back to New York state court, relying on forum-selection clauses that allowed suit in New York, Delaware, or Ohio. It also requested attorneys’ fees for bringing the remand request.
The defendants agreed to send the case back but opposed the fee request. The court directed the clerk to remand the case to the Supreme Court of New York, New York County and to terminate all open motions.
In Itria Ventures LLC v. Welcome Group LLC dba America Best Value Inn, Judge Valerie Caproni denied Itria Ventures’ request for attorneys’ fees because the defendants’ removal of the case to federal court was not objectively unreasonable.
The detailed version
- Itria Ventures LLC v. Welcome Group LLC dba America Best Value Inn · No. 1:23-cv-01575
- Valerie Caproni
- Apr. 10, 2023
Background
The defendants removed the case from the Supreme Court of New York, New York County to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Itria Ventures LLC then moved to remand, or return, the case to state court. Itria Ventures relied on forum-selection clauses that allowed it to sue the defendants in New York, Delaware, or Ohio, and it requested reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred in connection with the remand request.
The defendants consented to remand but opposed the request for attorneys’ fees.
Ruling
The court directed the clerk to terminate all open motions and remand the case to the Supreme Court of New York, New York County. The court denied Itria Ventures’ request for reasonable attorneys’ fees because the defendants’ notice of removal was not objectively unreasonable.
Disposition
The case was remanded to state court. Itria Ventures’ request for attorneys’ fees was denied.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.