United States Securities and Exchange Commission v. Collector's Coffee Inc. et al

Filing 1409

ORDER Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED: That the Clerk of Court is directed to strike Defendant Mykalai Kontilai's memoranda of law found at Dkt. Nos. 1390, 1391, 1392, 1393, 1394, and 1395 for failure to comply with the Court's Individ ual Practices. That the Clerk of Court is further directed to strike Collector Coffee Inc.'s and Relief Defendant Veronica Kontilai's notices of joinder at Dkt. Nos. 1402, 1403, 1404, 1405, and 1406 as moot. That Defendant's and Relief Defendant may respond to plaintiff SEC's motion in limine (found at Dkt. No. 1347) no later than Friday, November 17, 2023. That t he SEC may reply to Defendants' and Relief Defendants' opposition no later than Wednesday, November 22, 2023. (Replies due by 11/22/2023., Responses due by 11/17/2023) (Signed by Judge Victor Marrero on 11/15/2023) (jca) Modified on 11/15/2023 (jca).

1348.) The rules permitted any party in opposition to file a
single memorandum of law, limited to 25 pages, addressing all
the

relief

Mykalai

that

the

Kontilai

SEC

seeks

(joined

by

through

his

its

single

Co-Defendant

motion.

Collector’s

Coffee, Inc. and Relief Defendant Veronica Kontilai) instead
filed six memoranda of law, together 78 pages, one for each
evidentiary
practice

topic

is

not

addressed

in

consistent

the

with

SEC

the

opening

Court’s

brief.
rule

This

on

page

limitations, which ensures that each party has an equal and
fair opportunity to be heard.
This
perhaps

incident
most

does

extreme

represent,

example

of

however,
the

the

excessive

latest

and

litigation

tactics defendants have engaged in during the course of this
action,

thereby

imposing

undue

costs,

delays,

and

other

inefficiencies on the Court and the parties. It also reflects
complete

disregard

for

a

concern

the

Court

and

Magistrate

Judge Gabriel Gorenstein have repeatedly expressed, conduct
which cumulatively borders on sanctionable.
Indeed, the Court and Magistrate Judge Gorenstein have
frequently

described

defendants’

counsel’s

conduct

as

“dilatory” and “frivolous,” among many other criticisms. (See
e.g.,

Dkt.

No

1320

(denying

one

of

defendants’

request

as

“repetitive, cumbersome, and wasteful for the Parties and the
Court”); Dkt. No. 988, at 25 (noting the “the dilatory manner
2

in which counsel have handled the instant case”) (report and
recommendation adopted in full, Dkt. No. 1013); Dkt. No. 910,
at

7

(noting

that

“Kontilai's

briefing

on

this

motion

is

appalling in its lack of substance” and reflects a “complete
lack of intelligible argument on this critical element of his
motion”); Dkt. No. 884, at 10 (noting how defendants “hav[e]
taken numerous improper actions to delay this case, including
engaging in highly dilatory tactics in the discovery process,
filing numerous frivolous applications, and having required
the court to address numerous frivolous arguments”); Dkt. No.
862 (describing defendant’s filings as “frivolous”); Dkt. No.
836,

at

Dkt.

No.

3

(describing
829

defendant’s

(referring

to

filings

“defendants'

as

“frivolous”);

numerous

delays”);

Dkt. No. 811 (describing defendant’s filings as “frivolous”),
Dkt. No. 767, at 31 (noting how Kontilai “(or his attorneys)
deliberately
parties’

wasted

time

in

a
the

good

deal

manner

of

in

the

which

Court's
he

and

the

litigated

the

production of the tax returns”); Dkt. No. 774, at 2 (“[T]he
defendants’
discovery

is

conduct

in

delaying

inexcusable.”);

the

Dkt.

No.

mechanisms
679,

at

to
2-3

obtain
(noting

defendants’ “inexcusable lateness” in seeking an expansion of
discovery and “dilatory conduct”).)

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Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED:
That the Clerk of Court is directed to strike Defendant
Mykalai Kontilai’s memoranda of law found at Dkt. Nos. 1390,
1391, 1392, 1393, 1394, and 1395 for failure to comply with
the Court’s Individual Practices.
That
Collector

the

Clerk

Coffee

of

Court

Inc.’s

is

and

further
Relief

directed

to

Defendant

strike

Veronica

Kontilai’s notices of joinder at Dkt. Nos. 1402, 1403, 1404,
1405, and 1406 as moot.
That

Defendants

and

Relief

Defendant

may

respond

to

plaintiff SEC’s motion in limine (found at Dkt. No. 1347) no
later than Friday, November 17, 2023.
That

the

SEC

may

reply

to

Defendants’

and

Relief

Defendants’ opposition no later than Wednesday, November 22,
2023.
Dated:

15 November 2023
New York, New York

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