VC Healthy Living, Inc. v. ILKB, LLC
- Rearden
- 1:22-cv-05549
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
VC Healthy Living v. ILKB: Judge Rearden terminated the default-judgment motion and ordered further briefing on confirming an arbitration award.
The petitioners—VC Healthy Living, Inc., Vivek Chaudhary, and Christina Chaudhary—and ILKB, LLC. The petitioners must submit additional materials and proof of service; ILKB may oppose the petition.
What happened
VC Healthy Living, Inc., Vivek Chaudhary, and Christina Chaudhary asked the court to confirm and enforce an arbitration award against ILKB, LLC. ILKB did not respond after being served and appeared to be in default.
The petitioners asked for a default judgment. The court explained that default judgments are generally inappropriate in proceedings to confirm or overturn an arbitration award, so it would treat the unanswered petition as an unopposed request for summary judgment instead.
Judge Rearden ordered the petitioners to submit and serve additional supporting materials, allowed ILKB to file an opposition, and allowed the petitioners to reply. The Clerk was directed to terminate the default-judgment motion; the order did not decide whether to confirm the arbitration award.
The detailed version
- VC Healthy Living, Inc. v. ILKB, LLC · No. 1:22-cv-05549
- Rearden
- July 13, 2023
Background
VC Healthy Living, Inc., Vivek Chaudhary, and Christina Chaudhary filed a petition seeking confirmation and enforcement of an arbitration award. The court stated that ILKB, LLC had been served but had not responded and appeared to be in default. The case had been reassigned to Judge Rearden for all purposes.
On September 22, 2022, the petitioners moved for a default judgment. The court cited Second Circuit authority stating that default judgments are generally inappropriate in proceedings to confirm or overturn arbitration awards. Instead, the court said it would treat the unanswered petition as an unopposed motion for summary judgment. Summary judgment is a procedure for deciding a matter when the governing standard is met without a trial; this order did not decide that motion or the petition's request for confirmation.
Order
The court directed the petitioners to file and serve any additional materials supporting the petition by July 27, 2023. ILKB could file an opposition by August 10, 2023, and the petitioners could file a reply by August 17, 2023. The petitioners were also ordered to promptly serve ILKB with the order and file an affidavit confirming service, and to file by July 31, 2023, an affidavit confirming service of any additional supporting materials.
The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate the motion for default judgment at ECF No. 11. The order did not state that the arbitration award was confirmed or denied confirmation, and it did not enter judgment on the petition.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.