Javelin Global Commodities (UK) Ltd. v. Blubaugh et al

Filing 28

ORDER granting 22 Motion for Enter Confession of Judgment Against Defendants ; terminating 26 Motion for Judgment. It is hereby ordered that Plaintiff's Motion is GRANTED. Plaintiff is a private limited company established under the la ws of England and Wales with a principal place of business in the United Kingdom. ECF No. 24, par. 10. Defendant Blubaugh is a citizen of Texas, and Defendants Kingdom Coal LLC, KC II Holdings LLC, and Double Mountain Mining LLC are each Wyoming limi ted liability companies with their principal places of business in Texas. Id. par. 11-12. Their members are collectively citizens of Florida, Kentucky, and/or Texas. Id. par. 13. Subject matter jurisdiction therefore exists because there is complete diversity between the parties and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). In addition, Defendants' confession of judgment was made knowingly and voluntarily and contains the information required by N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 3218(a), including stating the sum for which judgment may be entered. The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to terminate ECF Nos. 22 and 26 and to enter Judgment in favor of Plaintiffs in the amount of $2,500,000.00, plus interest accruing at the rate of 9% per day starting from the date Judgment is entered. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Jeannette A. Vargas on 3/12/2025) (sgz) Transmission to Orders and Judgments Clerk for processing.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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:
JAVELIN GLOBAL COMMODITIES (UK)
:
LTD,
:
Plaintiff,
:
:
-against:
:
MICHAEL A. BLUBAUGH, KINGDOM COAL :
LLC, KC II HOLDINGS LLC, and DOUBLE
:
MOUNTAIN MINING LLC,
:
Defendants. :
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JEANNETTE A. VARGAS, District Judge:

24-CV-8385 (JAV)
ORDER

On February 12, 2025, Plaintiff filed an unopposed motion to enter Defendants’
confession of judgment (the “Motion”) in the amount of $2.5 million, plus interest at the
maximum judgment rate permitted under New York law from the date of entry of the Judgment.
ECF No. 22. In support of the Motion, Plaintiff filed an August 8, 2024, declaration of judgment
by confession signed by Michael A. Blubaugh on behalf of himself and Defendants Kingdom
Coal LLC and Double Mountain Mining, LLC, and signed by Scott Haire on behalf of Defendant
KC II Holdings, LLC. ECF No. 24, Ex. A.
In that affidavit, Defendants “consent to the United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York retaining subject matter and personal jurisdiction of [this] action for
purposes of enforcing the terms of the parties’ settlement agreement, including . . . any
application by Javelin for judgment to be entered in its favor in accordance with the terms of this
Declaration of Confession of Judgment. Id. ¶ 6. Furthermore, Defendants acknowledge that
“Javelin is authorized to file this Declaration of Confession of Judgment in the United States
District Court for the Southern District of New York” for the entry of judgment against
Defendants in the amount of $2,500,000.00. Id. ¶¶ 12-13. Defendants also “agree that the
Judgment Amount . . . is a fair and reasonable amount of damages for Javelin to have judgment

against [Defendants] jointly and severally.” Id. ¶ 14.
Defendants concede that “[p]ursuant to the terms of the Agreement and the Confession the
judgment requested by Plaintiff to be entered on the Confession of Judgment should be in the
amount of [$2,500,000].” ECF No. 26, ¶ 5. Additionally, Defendants assert that the rate of postjudgment interest should be 9% per N.Y. CPLR § 5004(a), and that the interest shall begin to run
from the date of the entry of the judgment. Id. ¶ 6. Plaintiff agrees that the maximum judgment
rate permitted under New York law is 9% under CPLR §§ 5003-04, which amounts to $616.44
per day. ECF No. 23 at 13; see also ECF No. 24, Ex. A, ¶ 13.
“The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not specifically contemplate entry of judgment
by confession.” Ream v. Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., No. 16-cv-7462 (SLC), 2020 WL 5836437, at
*3 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 1, 2020). Nevertheless, “[a] federal court . . . has the power to enter a
confession of judgment where subject matter jurisdiction exists and the confession of judgment
was made knowingly and voluntarily.” Sapon v. Hanbat Rest., Inc., No. 18-cv-11457 (SLC),
2021 WL 621170, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 16, 2021) (citation and quotation marks omitted).
“Where the confession of judgment satisfies these factors, the federal court may enter judgment
as permitted by the law of the state in which the court is located.” Id. (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 64);
see also D.H. Overmyer Co. v. Frick Co., 405 U.S. 174, 185-87 (1972) (holding that a confession
of judgment provision may be valid where the confession was “voluntary, knowing, and
intelligently made”); Alland v. Consumers Credit Corp., 476 F.2d 951, 954-955 (2d Cir. 1973)
(“[A]lthough the district court correctly ruled that the entry of a confessed judgment is a matter of
procedure where the federal rules govern for purposes of Erie, questions regarding the
interpretation to be given language in the confession of judgment are governed, as are other
written agreements, by substantive state law.” (citation and quotation marks omitted)).
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New York law provides, subject to one exception not relevant to this case, that “a
judgment by confession may be entered, without an action, either for money due or to become
due, or to secure the plaintiff against a contingent liability in [sic] behalf of the defendant, or
both, upon an affidavit executed by the defendant.” N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 3218(a). “[W]hile the New
York courts permit the entry of judgment on a proper affidavit of confession by the clerk of the
county in which entry of judgment is authorized, without an action, . . . the federal courts
generally require the party seeking entry of a confessed judgment to make a motion.” Sapon,
2021 WL 621170, at *2 (citation and quotation marks omitted).
Additionally, although the federal rate of post-judgment interest normally applies in a
diversity case, the parties “may contractually agree to a different rate” so long as “their intent to
do so [is] clear and unequivocal.” FCS Advisors, Inc. v. Fair Finance Co., 605 F.3d 144, 145 (2d
Cir. 2010). In this case, the confession of judgment is explicit, and both parties agree, that New
York law governs the post-judgment interest rate.
It is hereby ordered that Plaintiff’s Motion is GRANTED. Plaintiff is a private limited
company established under the laws of England and Wales with a principal place of business in
the United Kingdom. ECF No. 24, ¶ 10. Defendant Blubaugh is a citizen of Texas, and
Defendants Kingdom Coal LLC, KC II Holdings LLC, and Double Mountain Mining LLC are
each Wyoming limited liability companies with their principal places of business in Texas. Id. ¶¶
11-12. Their members are collectively citizens of Florida, Kentucky, and/or Texas. Id. ¶ 13.
Subject matter jurisdiction therefore exists because there is complete diversity between the parties
and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). In addition, Defendants’
confession of judgment was made knowingly and voluntarily and contains the information
required by N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 3218(a), including stating the sum for which judgment may be
entered.

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The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to terminate ECF Nos. 22 and 26 and to enter
Judgment in favor of Plaintiffs in the amount of $2,500,000.00, plus interest accruing at the rate
of 9% per day starting from the date Judgment is entered.
SO ORDERED.
Dated: March 12, 2025
New York, New York

________________________________
JEANNETTE A. VARGAS
United States District Judge

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