Rivera-Franz v. Alphabet Soup Associates, LLC
- Rochon
- 1:24-cv-00834
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Rivera-Franz v. Alphabet Soup Associates, Judge Rochon ordered the parties to discuss settlement and standing, then jointly report their next step.
Annalisa Rivera-Franz and Alphabet Soup Associates, LLC, who must meet, discuss settlement and standing, and submit a joint letter to the court.
What happened
In Rivera-Franz v. Alphabet Soup Associates, LLC, the court ordered the parties to meet for at least one hour within 30 days after the summons and complaint are served. They must make a good-faith effort to settle the case and discuss whether the plaintiff has met the requirement of standing, which concerns whether she is entitled to bring the case.
If the parties cannot settle, they must also discuss whether mediation through the court’s program or a settlement conference with a magistrate judge would be useful. Within 15 more days—45 days after service—the parties must send a joint letter stating whether they settled.
Judge Jennifer L. Rochon ordered that, if the case has not settled, the joint letter must ask either for mediation or a magistrate-judge settlement conference, identifying a preference, or for an initial status conference. The order does not decide standing or the merits of the case.
The detailed version
- Rivera-Franz v. Alphabet Soup Associates, LLC · No. 1:24-cv-00834
- Rochon
- Feb. 6, 2024
Order
The court ordered Annalisa Rivera-Franz and Alphabet Soup Associates, LLC, to meet and confer for at least one hour within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint. The meeting must include a good-faith effort to settle the action.
Standing Discussion
The parties must discuss whether Rivera-Franz has satisfied the threshold requirement of standing—the requirement that a plaintiff be entitled to bring the case. The court cited decisions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concerning standing. The order asks the parties to consider standing but does not decide whether standing exists.
Further Settlement Procedures
If the parties cannot settle the case themselves, they must discuss whether additional settlement discussions through the district’s court-annexed mediation program or before a magistrate judge would be productive at that time.
Joint Letter and Disposition
Within 15 additional days, or 45 days after service of the summons and complaint, the parties must submit a joint letter telling 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, with a preference between those options, or an initial status conference. Judge Jennifer L. Rochon entered this case-management order; it does not resolve the merits of the action.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.