Amalgamated Bank v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. et al

Filing 32

ORDER granting 29 Letter Motion to Seal; granting 30 Letter Motion for Leave to File Document; granting 31 Letter Motion for Leave to File Document. Plaintiff's letter motion for leave to effectuate service by alternate means pursuant t o Rule 4(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is GRANTED, substantially for the reasons reflected in the letter motion and the exhibits attached thereto. Plaintiff has made the requisite showing that "traditional methods of service&quo t; have proved "impracticable" and that the alternate methods it proposes are, taken together, "reasonably calculated, under the circumstances, to apprise [Defendant Warren] of the pendency of the action and afford [him] an opportuni ty to present [his] objections." Sirius XM Radio Inc. v. Aura Multimedia Corp., 339 F.R.D. 592, 593 (S.D.N.Y. 2021); see also, e.g., Vega v. Hastens Beds, Inc., 339 F.R.D. 210, 217 (S.D.N.Y. 2021) ("[S]ervice by email alone comports with due process where a plaintiff demonstrates that the email is likely to reach the defendant."). Plaintiff is granted through and until April 10, 2024, to effectuate service on Defendant Warren and shall serve the documents listed in Appendix A , in addition to a copy of this Order, on Warren by each of the five proposed methods of alternate service. Additionally, Plaintiff's motion to redact portions of its letter motion and maintain under seal Exhibit 6 attached thereto is GRANTED, substantially for the reasons stated in its motion. See ECF No. 29; see also, e.g., Cantinieri v. Verisk Analytics, Inc., No. 21-CV-6911 (NJC) (JMW), 2024 WL 759317, at *2 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 23, 2024) (observing that privacy interests in maintaining PII under seal "weigh heavily in the Court's balancing against the presumption of access" and "the public will not be prejudiced if denied access to this information"). The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate ECF Nos. 29, 30 & 31. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Jesse M. Furman on 3/27/2024) (tg)

LANIER SAPERSTEIN
Partner
[phone]
[e-mail]

March 26, 2024
VIA ECF
Hon. Jesse M. Furman
Thurgood Marshall
United States Courthouse
40 Foley Square
New York, NY 10007
Re:

Amalgamated Bank v. JPMorgan
23-CV-9511 (JMF) (JLC) (SDNY)

Chase

Bank,

N.A.

and

Armon

Warren,

Dear Judge Furman:
We represent Plaintiff Amalgamated Bank (“Amalgamated”) in the above-referenced action, and
we request permission pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(e) and N.Y. CPLR § 308(5) to serve by alternative
means the Summons and Complaint, as well as certain other case filings listed in Appendix A, on Defendant
Armon Warren. We have sought to serve Defendant Warren at three different addresses, two in Georgia
and one in California, without success. Chase has sought to serve its removal papers on Defendant Warren
at two addresses in Georgia, also without success.
The extended deadline for us to serve Defendant Warren is April 3, 2024 (Dkt. No. 17), and if the
Court grants our request, we request permission to effect service by April 10, 2024.
I.

Background

Amalgamated is trying to recover more than $400,000 stolen by one of Chase’s customers,
Defendant Warren, from one of Amalgamated’s customers, a New York-based union representing local
workers. Defendant Warren obtained the funds in May 2023 by depositing an altered check into one of his
Chase accounts and then drawing down on the funds. On August 3, 2023, more than two months after
Amalgamated’s initial request for the return of the funds and after Chase already returned some of the stolen
funds, Chase denied Amalgamated’s request. Chase asserted that it was not obligated to return the stolen
funds, asserting that the check was counterfeit, not altered.
Amalgamated commenced this case in October 2023, and Amalgamated and Chase are in the midst
of discovery. Efforts to serve Defendant Warren at five different locations by both Chase and Amalgamated
have been unsuccessful. While we have been unable to serve Defendant Warren by traditional means,
Defendant Warren is a social media personality, who can be fairly notified of this litigation through alternate
service via email, his social media accounts, as well as his businesses.
II.

Traditional Service is Impractical

Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(e), Defendant Warren can be served either in accordance with the
federal rules or New York law. Fed.l R. Civ. P. 4(e)(2) and CPLR § 308 collectively allow personal service,

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Hon. Jesse M. Furman
March 26, 2024
Page 3
be sent direct messages through his Instagram account. Mr. Warren frequently goes “live” on Instagram
and posts videos, including on March 21, 2024, when he went live for 35 minutes 15 seconds. Courts also
allow service via social media where, as here, the defendant actively engages on these platforms. See, e.g.,
FNTV, LLC v. Starnes Media Grp. LLC, 22-CV-4042, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140036, *3-4 (E.D.N.Y.
August 10, 2023) (granting default judgment after agreeing to alternate service on defendant, an active
social media user, by “email, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram”).
Third, we can effect service by sending the documents listed in Appendix A via US Mail to Mr.
Warren’s attention care of Ar’mon and Trey LLC at the address of Ar’mon and Trey LLC’s registered agent
for service of process. Ar’mon and Trey LLC is a Michigan Limited Liability Company organized by
Ar’mon Warren and Treyvion Traylor, with the registered agent Shiquita Hathaway. See Exhibit 7. In
other words, Mr. Warren and his brother are Ar’mon and Trey LLC’s members, and Mr. Warren’s mother
is its registered agent for service of process. Alternate means of service can include serving an entity through
an organization in which the defendant has an ownership interest. See Berdeaux v. Onecoin Ltd., 2020 U.S.
Dist. LEXIS 13324, *4-5 (S.D.NY. Jan. 24, 2020) (upholding service on a defendant through a company
in which it had an ownership interest and through other methods because these methodologies, when
combined, were “reasonably calculated to apprise interested parties of the pendency of the litigation and
afford them an opportunity to appear”).
Fourth, we can effect service by sending the documents listed in Appendix A via US Mail to Mr.
Warren’s attention care of ArmoneyMerch LLC through its last known registered agent for service of
process. Mr. Warren is the organizer of ArmoneyMerch LLC, which lists the same Peachtree address as
on the altered check. A copy of the Certificate of Organization for Mr. Warren’s business is attached hereto
as Exhibit 8. ArmoneyMerch LLC was administratively resolved on September 8, 2023 because it violated
Georgia’s registration laws, but we believe serving on it would provide notice to Defendant Warren,
especially in conjunction with the above efforts. See, e.g., Platina Bulk Carriers Pte Ltd v. Praxis Energy
Agents DMCC, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 191351, *6 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 15, 2020) (holding that, while some of
the service methods plaintiff proposed, including serving defendants at an address they no longer appeared
to occupy, might fail, the combined method would be “reasonably calculated” to notify the defendants of
the lawsuit); Berdeaux v. Onecoin Ltd., at *5.
Finally, we can effect service by sending the documents listed in Appendix A via US Mail to Mr.
Warren’s attention at 161 Peachtree Center Avenue, NE Ste 2, Atlanta, Georgia, 30303, the address Mr.
Warren provided on the check at issue in this litigation.
*

*

*

Amalgamated respectfully requests that, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(e) and N.Y. CPLR § 308(5),
it be authorized to serve the Summons and Complaint, as well as the other case filings listed in Appendix
A on Mr. Warren by one or more of the above methods.

Hon. Jesse M. Furman
March 26, 2024
Page 4
Sincerely,
/s/ Lanier Saperstein
Lanier Saperstein
Enclosures
cc: All counsel of record (via ECF)

Plaintiff's letter motion for leave to effectuate service by alternate means pursuant to Rule 4(e)
of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is GRANTED, substantially for the reasons reflected in the
letter motion and the exhibits attached thereto. Plaintiff has made the requisite showing that
"traditional methods of service" have proved "impracticable" and that the alternate methods it
proposes are, taken together, "reasonably calculated, under the circumstances, to apprise [Defendant
Warren] of the pendency of the action and afford [him] an opportunity to present [his] objections."
Sirius XM Radio Inc. v. Aura Multimedia Corp., 339 F.R.D. 592, 593 (S.D.N.Y. 2021); see also, e.g.,
Vega v. Hastens Beds, Inc., 339 F.R.D. 210, 217 (S.D.N.Y. 2021) ("[S]ervice by email alone comports
with due process where a plaintiff demonstrates that the email is likely to reach the defendant.").
Plaintiff is granted through and until April 10, 2024, to effectuate service on Defendant Warren and
shall serve the documents listed in Appendix A, in addition to a copy of this Order, on Warren by
each of the five proposed methods of alternate service.
Additionally, Plaintiff's motion to redact portions of its letter motion and maintain under seal
Exhibit 6 attached thereto is GRANTED, substantially for the reasons stated in its motion. See ECF
No. 29; see also, e.g., Cantinieri v. Verisk Analytics, Inc., No. 21-CV-6911 (NJC) (JMW), 2024 WL
759317, at *2 (E.D.N.Y. Feb. 23, 2024) (observing that privacy interests in maintaining PII under seal
"weigh heavily in the Court's balancing against the presumption of access" and "the public will not be
prejudiced if denied access to this information").
The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate ECF Nos. 29, 30 & 31.
SO ORDERED.

March 27, 2024

Hon. Jesse M. Furman
March 26, 2024
Page 5
Appendix A
Set forth below is the list of documents that Amalgamated proposes to serve on Defendant Warren:
1. Amalgamated’s Summons and Complaint (Dkt. No. 1-1)
2. Chase’s Notice of Removal (Dkt No. 1)
3. Civil Case Management Plan (Dkt. No. 17)
4. Confidentiality Stipulation and Protective Order (Dkt. No. 20).
5. Copy of Docket Sheet as of March 26, 2024