Anwar et al v. Fairfield Greenwich Limited et al

Filing 1534

ORDER. It is hereby ORDERED that the request of plaintiff Teresa Barbachano ("Barbachano") to file the proposed Third Amended Complaint (Dkt. Nos. 1525, 1526) is DENIED; and it is further ORDERED that Barbachano may file, by January 12, 2016, a further amended complaint incorporating the uniform negligence count and omitting any previously dismissed claims; and it is further ORDERED that Barbachano's request for partial final judgment pursuant to Rule 54(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Dkt. No. 1529) is DENIED. (Amended Pleadings due by 1/12/2016.) (Signed by Judge Victor Marrero on 1/7/2016) (rjm)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

------------------------------x
PASHAS. ANWAR, et al.,
09-cv-118 (VM)
Plaintiffs,
ORDER

-against-

. . . :.. .

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ri~ELJ?{:,TR0Ni9A4L~f~~D.

FAIRFIELD GREENWICH LIMITED,
et al.,

DOCUl\lENT

I

itooc #·

Defendants.

----------------------------- x
VICTOR MARRERO, United States District

On

December

3,

2015,

the

l '.

·

· ..

parties

to

.

the

··.·

.

·.·

..

Standard

(Dkt. No. 1473 at 1.) The Court

then ordered that any of the Standard Chartered Plaintiff s 2
who seek "to amend the complaint herein solely for the purpose
of pleading the uniform negligence claim . . . is directed to
do so by December 22, 2015."
On December 22,
Plaintiffs,
proposed

Teresa

Third

2015,

Barbachano

Amended

negligence count.

(Id. at 2.)
one of

Complaint

(Dkt. Nos.

the

Standard Chartered

("Barbachano"),
to

include

1525, 1526; Ex.

the

filed

a

uniform

1 to Dkt. No.

1525.)
The Standard Chartered Action describes the 56 cases consolidated in
this Court in which claims have been asserted against defendants Standard
Chartered Bank International
(Americas)
Ltd.,
Standard Chartered
International (USA) Ltd., Standard Chartered Bank, and Standard Chartered
PLC.

1

2

The term Standard Chartered Plaintiffs denotes the 74 plaintiffs in the
Standard Chartered Action.

1

,.

. 0A1'EFlLE~. ~... · .·_.·. ·. · "· · ': '· u:'
'21t'1{itf'~

J~e.

Chartered Action 1 informed the Court of an agreement regarding
a uniform negligence count.

·'«

·

By letter dated December 29, 2015 ("December 29 Standard
Chartered

defendants

Letter"),

International

(Americas)

Ltd.

Standard

and

Chartered

Standard

Bank

Chartered

PLC

(collectively, "Standard Chartered Defendants") request that
the

Court

reject

Barbachano's

proposed

Third

Amended

Complaint because it attempts to re-plead claims that were
dismissed by this Court.

(Dkt. No. 1532 at 1.) Additionally,

the Standard Chartered Defendants ask the Court (1) to order
that

Barbachano

submit

an amended

complaint

dropping

all

previously dismissed claims and retaining only the uniform
negligence count by January 12, 2016 or (2) to deny Barbachano
the right to amend and to proceed with remand of the action.
(Id. at 1-3.)
By

letter

dated

December

30,

("December

2015

30

Barbachano Letter"), Barbachano responded to the December 29
Standard Chartered Letter, claiming that the proposed Third
Amended Complaint complied with the Court's instruction to
amend

solely

for

negligence count.
argued

that

the

purpose

(Dkt. No.

although

some

of

pleading

1529 at 2.)
of

the

the

uniform

Barbachano further

claims

included

in the

proposed Third Amended Complaint had been dismissed by the
Court, no portion had been stricken.
additionally requests

that

the

(Id. at 1.) Barbachano

Court

enter partial

final

judgment pursuant to Rule 54(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil

2

Procedure

("Rule

54(b)")

previously dismissed,
immediate appeal.

on

the

claims

that

the

Court

in order to allow Barbachano to take

(Id. at 2-3.)

In response to the December 30 Barbachano Letter,

the

Standard Chartered Defendants filed a letter on December 31,
2015

("December 31 Standard Chartered Letter")

that the Court either
Amended Complaint or

(1)
(2)

requesting

deny Barbachano's proposed Third
if the Court allows the proposed

Third Amended Complaint to be filed, dismiss several counts
and claims previously dismissed by this Court for the reasons
set

forth

in prior

orders.

(Dkt.

No.

1527

at

1-2.)

The

Standard Chartered Defendants also argue that Barbachano's
desire

to appeal the Court's decisions dismissing certain

claims does not warrant the granting of Rule 54(b)

relief.

(Id.at2.)
On January 5,

2016,

the Standard Chartered Defendants

submitted a proposed remand order for the Barbachano action 3
but indicated that the parties agree that any outstanding
issues

regarding

Barbachano's

proposed

Third

Amended

Complaint and request for partial final judgment pursuant to
Rule 54(b) be resolved prior to remand.

(Dkt. No. 1531.)

In response, Barbachano submitted a letter on January 5,

The proposed remand order also applies to an additional case in the
Standard Chartered Action, which is not relevant here. (See Dkt. No.
3

1531.)

3

2016 stating that if the Court grants partial final judgment
pursuant to Rule 54(b), Barbachano requests that remand be
stayed pending appeal to the Second Circuit. (Dkt. No. 1530.)
Alternatively,

if the Court denies the request for partial

final judgment, Barbachano does not object to the form of the
proposed remand order.
The

Court

has

(Id.)

examined

the

parties'

correspondence

regarding Barbachano's proposed Third Amended Complaint and
request for partial final judgment pursuant to Rule 54(b).
First,
file

the Court denies Barbachano's request for leave to
her

proposed

previously

dismissed

Third

Amended

several

of

Complaint.
the

claims

The
and

Court
counts

included in the proposed Third Amended Complaint, and there
is no compelling reason for the Court to allow Barbachano to
re-plead

these

claims.

The

Court

now

grants

Barbachano

permission to submit a further amended complaint asserting
the

uniform

negligence

count,

without

reference

to

any

request

for

previously dismissed claims.
Second,

the

Court

denies

Barbachano's

partial final judgment pursuant to Rule 54(b). Partial final
judgment under Rule 54(b) should "not be granted routinely"
and only in the "infrequent harsh case where there exists
some danger of hardship or injustice through delay which would
be alleviated by immediate appeal." Grand River Enters. Six

4

Nations,

Ltd.

v.

Pryor,

425 F.3d 158,

165

(2d Cir.

2005)

(internal citations and quotation marks omitted). The Court
is

not

persuaded

that

there

injustice through delay"

is

"danger

of

hardship

or

and therefore denies Barbachano's

request for partial final judgment under Rule 54(b). See Grand
River Enters. Six Nations, Ltd., 425 F.3d at 165.
ORDER

Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED that the request of plaintiff Teresa Barbachano

("Barbachano")

to file the proposed Third Amended Complaint

(Dkt. Nos. 1525, 1526) is DENIED; and it is further
ORDERED that Barbachano may file,

a

further

negligence

amended
count

complaint

and

omitting

by January 12, 2016,

incorporating
any

the

previously

uniform
dismissed

claims; and it is further
ORDERED

that

Barbachano' s

request

for

partial

final

judgment pursuant to Rule 54(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure (Dkt. No. 1529) is DENIED.

SO ORDERED.

Dated:

New York, New York
7 January 2016

Victor Marrero
U.S.D.J.

5