Scaminaci v. Jaffrey

Background

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entered an order memorializing several rulings made at a February 26, 2024 conference. The matters included motions concerning Jaffrey’s counterclaims, Scaminaci’s complaint, sanctions, discovery, sealing, deadlines, and trial scheduling.

Motions Concerning the Pleadings and Sanctions

The court granted Jaffrey’s motion to amend his counterclaims under the safe-harbor provision of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. The court directed Jaffrey to review and refine his proposed amended counterclaims, as appropriate, and file them by 4:00 p.m. on March 1, 2024.

Because the counterclaims were being amended, the court denied as moot Scaminaci’s motion to dismiss the current counterclaims. The court granted Scaminaci leave to file a motion to dismiss the amended counterclaims after the parties engaged in mediation.

The court denied Scaminaci’s motion for Rule 11 sanctions. It stated that Scaminaci had not filed the required pre-motion letter requesting permission to bring the sanctions motion and that the court was not prepared to find bad faith.

The court also denied Scaminaci’s motion to file a second amended complaint. The court found that the motion, filed without permission three years after the case began, was untimely under the applicable case-management plan and scheduling order.

The court denied as moot requests to extend the briefing schedules for Scaminaci’s motion to amend and motion for sanctions.

Discovery, Sealing, and Protection of Documents

The parties were ordered to file a joint letter by 4:00 p.m. on February 28, 2024 addressing the status of sealing requests at docket entries 84, 107, 113, 120, and 129.

Regarding discovery disputes, the court ordered Jaffrey to produce responsive documents. The documents were to be provided to counsel for Scaminaci initially for attorneys’ eyes only. The lawyers were directed to confer in good faith and submit a proposed revised protective order by 4:00 p.m. on February 28, 2024. The revised order was required to state that the documents could be used only for this litigation and could not be disclosed to anyone other than counsel of record. It also had to allow Scaminaci’s counsel to seek permission, on a separate application to the court, to disclose documents to Scaminaci.

The court denied Scaminaci’s request for more detailed disclosures about Palistar’s financial outlook, while requiring Jaffrey to update the financial information he had provided as necessary. The court denied Jaffrey’s request to quash, or cancel, a subpoena that Scaminaci had served on a third party.

Deadlines, Mediation, and Trial

The court extended the deadline to complete fact discovery to March 29, 2024, and the deadline to complete expert discovery to May 29, 2024. It described these as firm deadlines and directed the parties not to request further extensions.

The court set trial to begin on October 29, 2024. The parties were required to submit the joint pretrial order, any motions in limine, and other required pretrial filings by September 23, 2024, in accordance with the judge’s individual rules.

Both parties agreed to the court’s proposal to speak with Justice Masley, who was presiding over a related state-court proceeding, and then recommend potential mediators. The court stated that it would email its recommendations. The parties were ordered to file a joint letter by March 4, 2024 stating whether they had agreed on a mediator and setting out the mediation schedule.

Ruling and Effect

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil warned counsel for both sides that failing to follow the court’s individual rules and orders, or failing to work cooperatively, could result in sanctions. The clerk was requested to terminate the motions listed in the order, including the motions concerning dismissal, amendment, sanctions, discovery, sealing, extensions, and counterclaim amendment. This order addressed case management, pleading amendments, discovery, and related motions; it did not decide the underlying merits of the parties’ claims.