Girotto v. Hastens Beds, Inc.
- Garnett
- 1:24-cv-02552
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Girotto v. Hastens Beds, Judge Garnett ordered settlement discussions and a joint status letter after service.
Plaintiff Luigi Girotto, Defendants Hastens Beds, Inc., d/b/a Hastens Soho, and Grand Loft Corp., and their counsel are affected by the required settlement discussions, joint filing, and notice obligations.
What happened
In Girotto v. Hastens Beds, Inc., the court ordered the parties to meet and confer about settling the case within 30 days after each defendant is served with the summons and complaint. The parties must discuss whether Girotto has standing to bring the case.
If the parties cannot settle, they must also discuss whether court-connected mediation or a settlement conference before a magistrate judge would be useful. Within 45 days after service, they must file a joint letter reporting whether they settled and, if not, asking either for a settlement referral or an initial status conference.
Judge Margaret M. Garnett also directed appearing counsel to send the order and the court’s rules to counsel or parties who had not appeared and to file proof of that notice. The order did not decide standing or the merits of the case.
The detailed version
- Girotto v. Hastens Beds, Inc. · No. 1:24-cv-02552
- Garnett
- Apr. 4, 2024
Order
The court issued a case-management and settlement order. Within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint on each defendant, the parties must meet and confer for at least one hour in a good-faith effort to settle the action. The parties must consider whether Plaintiff has satisfied the threshold requirement of standing, meaning the requirement that the plaintiff be legally entitled to bring the case in federal court.
If the parties cannot settle on their own, 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.
Required Joint Letter
Within 15 additional days—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 stated between those options, or an initial status conference.
Notice to Other Parties
Counsel who had appeared when the order issued must promptly notify counsel for parties who had not appeared by serving them with the order and the judge’s Individual Rules and Practices. If counsel did not know the identity of another party’s lawyer, counsel had to send the materials directly to that party. Counsel must also file proof of the notice with the court.
Disposition and Scope
The court entered this settlement and scheduling order. It did not resolve whether Plaintiff has standing, decide the merits of the claims, or rule on a motion to dismiss.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.