Velasquez v. Vivir Lounge Corp.
- Garnett
- 1:24-cv-03277
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Velasquez v. Vivir Lounge Corp., Judge Garnett ordered the parties to discuss settlement and standing, then report to the court.
Ricardo Velasquez, Vivir Lounge Corp. doing business as Vivir Lounge, Crescent House LLC, and counsel who have appeared in the case.
What happened
In Velasquez v. Vivir Lounge Corp., the court ordered the parties to meet for at least one hour and make a good-faith effort to settle the case. The discussions must include whether Ricardo Velasquez has standing, meaning a sufficient legal connection to bring the case.
Within 30 days after each defendant is served with the summons and complaint, the parties must meet and confer. If they do not settle, they must also discuss whether court-connected mediation or a settlement conference with a magistrate judge would be useful.
Within 15 more days, the parties must send a joint letter reporting whether they settled and, if not, requesting mediation, a magistrate-judge settlement conference, or an initial status conference. Judge Margaret M. Garnett did not decide the standing issue or the merits of the case.
The detailed version
- Velasquez v. Vivir Lounge Corp. · No. 1:24-cv-03277
- Garnett
- May 2, 2024
Order
The court ordered the parties to meet and confer for at least one hour within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint on each defendant. The meeting must be a good-faith effort to settle the action. The parties were directed to consider whether Ricardo Velasquez has standing, meaning whether he satisfies the legal requirements to bring the case. The order cited Second Circuit decisions discussing standing.
If the parties cannot settle the case themselves, they must also discuss whether additional settlement discussions through the district court’s mediation program or before a magistrate judge would be productive at that time.
Reporting Requirement
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 ask the court either to refer the case to mediation or to a magistrate judge for a settlement conference, while stating the parties’ preference, or to proceed with an initial status conference.
Notice to Other Parties
Counsel who had appeared when the order was issued must promptly provide the other parties’ counsel, or the parties personally if their counsel is unknown, with a copy of the order and Judge Garnett’s Individual Rules and Practices. Those counsel must also file proof of that notice with the court.
Disposition and Scope
This is a case-management and settlement order. The court did not rule on standing, liability, or any other merits issue.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.