Reisman v. Northeastern Power and Gas LLC
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:23-cv-00620
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Reisman v. Northeastern, Judge Schofield entered default judgment requiring Electric Green Life LLC and Mark Bassili to indemnify Northeastern.
Northeastern Power and Gas LLC received default judgment against Electric Green Life LLC and Mark Bassili, who were held jointly and severally liable for Northeastern’s eventual damages and specified litigation expenses. The amounts were not yet determined.
What happened
In Reisman v. Northeastern Power and Gas LLC, Northeastern sought payment from Electric Green Life LLC and Mark Bassili under a contract. The contract required them to protect Northeastern from certain claims, losses, settlements, and legal expenses.
Electric Green Life LLC and Bassili were served but did not appear or respond. The court found that the complaint adequately alleged a valid contract, an indemnification promise, and marketing calls that may have violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
The court entered default judgment for Northeastern against Electric Green Life LLC and Bassili. Judge Lorna Schofield ruled that they are jointly responsible for Northeastern’s eventual damages and litigation expenses, including reasonable legal fees and costs; the court reserved the amount for a later proceeding.
The detailed version
- Reisman v. Northeastern Power and Gas LLC · No. 1:23-cv-00620
- Lorna Schofield
- Aug. 14, 2023
Background
Northeastern Power and Gas LLC, the third-party plaintiff, sought default judgment against Electric Green Life LLC and Mark Bassili. The underlying lawsuit was brought by Eli Reisman against Northeastern. Northeastern’s third-party complaint asserted contractual indemnification claims against Electric Green Life Inc., Electric Green Life LLC, and Bassili.
The opinion states that Electric Green Life LLC and Bassili were served but did not appear or respond. Their contract with Northeastern included consent to personal jurisdiction in the court. Bassili signed the contract on behalf of Electric Green Life LLC as its President and CEO.
The contract required the third-party defendants to comply with applicable laws, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. It also contained a broad indemnification provision requiring them to jointly and severally protect Northeastern and specified related parties from claims, liability, losses, costs, damages, fines, judgments, settlements, and expenses, including attorney’s fees and litigation costs, arising from specified acts or omissions.
Court’s Analysis
The court explained that a defaulting defendant admits the complaint’s well-pleaded factual allegations, but the court must still decide whether those allegations establish legal liability. The complaint adequately alleged that the parties entered into a valid and enforceable contract. It also alleged that Electric Green Life placed outgoing marketing calls that potentially violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, that Northeastern did not authorize those calls, and that Northeastern ended its relationship with Electric Green Life after Reisman filed the lawsuit. Northeastern sent an indemnification demand on March 23, 2023, and received no response.
Ruling and Effect
The court granted default judgment on Northeastern’s contractual indemnification claim. Electric Green Life LLC and Mark Bassili were held jointly and severally liable for any damages Northeastern ultimately sustains in the litigation and for Northeastern’s litigation expenses, including settlements and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. The court reserved jurisdiction to determine the amounts owed after the underlying litigation concludes. A separate order referring the case for a damages inquest was to issue.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.