Adar Bays, LLC v. Aim Exploration, Inc.

310 F. Supp. 3d 454
District Court, S.D. Illinois·Decided April 27, 2018·No. 17 Civ. 1290 (VM)·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

VICTOR MARRERO, United States District Judge *455Plaintiff Adar Bays, LLC ("Adar Bays") commenced this action against Aim Exploration, Inc. ("Aim Exploration") alleging breach of contract and unjust enrichment. ("Complaint," Dkt. No. 1; "First Amended Complaint," Dkt. No. 11.) On January 19, 2018, the Court denied Aim Exploration's motion for a judgment on the pleadings and to dismiss the First Amended Complaint based on the affirmative defense of usury. ("January Order," Dkt. No. 39.)

By letter dated February 14, 2018, Aim Exploration requests that the Court amend and certify for interlocutory appeal the January Order. ("Motion," Dkt. No. 43.) The Court now construes Aim Exploration's letter as a motion for certification for interlocutory appeal. For the reasons described below, Aim Exploration's Motion is DENIED.

I. BACKGROUND

In the January Order, the Court denied Aim Exploration's motion to dismiss the First Amended Complaint and found that Aim Exploration had not met its burden of showing that the note at issue ("Note," Dkt. No. 11, Ex. B) was criminally usurious. (See January Order at 17.) The facts and procedural history are set forth in greater detail in the January Order, familiarity with which is presumed.

Among other things, the Court held that Aim Exploration failed to show that the reservation of 1,168,000 shares of stock at the time the loan was made was usurious as a matter of law. (See id. at 10-12.) Aim Exploration had argued that the reservation of shares violated New York General Obligations Law § 5-511 (" § 5-511"), which states that "[a]11 .... notes .... whereupon or whereby there shall be reserved or taken, or secured or agreed to be reserved or taken, any greater sum, or greater value, for the loan or forbearance of any money, goods or other things in action, than is prescribed in section 5-501, shall be void." (Id. at 10 (citing N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 5-511 ).) The Court noted that § 5-501 is New York's civil usury statute, and therefore, on its face § 5-511 is a statute applicable to the defense of civil usury, not criminal usury as alleged by Aim Exploration. (Id. at 10-12.)

The Court further noted that although "[i]t is an 'open question under New York law[ ] whether a loan is void if it violates New York's criminal usury statute without violating New York's civil usury statute,' " the reservation of 1,168,000 shares of stock in this case was not usurious as a matter of law because "the reservation of shares was not an independent payment to Adar Bays, but merely a mechanism by which to effectuate the share conversion as envisioned by the Note and the [securities purchase agreement]." (Id. at 12 (quoting In re Venture Mortg. Fund, L.P., 282 F.3d 185, 189 (2d Cir. 2002).) Having already found that the value of the option to convert stock at a discount was too uncertain to include as interest in a usury calculation, the Court concluded that "since the share conversion feature does not render the agreement usurious, neither does the reservation of shares provision." (Id. at 12.)

Aim Exploration now argues that the Court's acknowledgment of this "open question" demonstrates that "the courts have struggled .... over recent years in applying the body of New York usury laws to its cases" and that "both State and Federal courts within this circuit have reached varying and opposing conclusions" regarding whether § 5-511 is applicable to criminal usury. (Motion at 2.) Aim Exploration further argues that if § 5-511 applies to criminal usury, Aim Exploration "is likely to meet its burden of proof to void the note as a matter of law, and no *456further litigation is necessary." (Id. at 3.) Aim Exploration also states that "[w]ith over 40 cases possibly being affected by this decision .... a higher court resolution of this issue could significantly save judicial resources." (Id. )

By letter dated February 16, 2018, Adar Bays opposes Aim Exploration's request for interlocutory appeal. ("February 16 Letter," Dkt. No. 42.) Adar Bays argues that (1) Aim Exploration's request is untimely; and (2) the question of law for which Aim Exploration seeks certification does not meet any of the requirements for interlocutory appeal. (See generally id. )

II. DISCUSSION

A district court may certify for appeal an order that "involves a controlling question of law as to which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion and that an immediate appeal from the order may materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation ...." 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). "The moving party has the burden of establishing all three elements." Youngers v. Virtus Inv. Partners Inc., 228 F.Supp.3d 295, 298 (S.D.N.Y. 2017) (quoting Segedie v. The Hain Celestial Grp., Inc., 14-CV-5029, 2015 WL 5916002, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 7, 2015) ). But "even when the elements of section 1292(b) are satisfied, the district court retains 'unfettered discretion' to deny certification." Garber v. Office of the Comm'r of Baseball, 120 F.Supp.3d 334, 337 (S.D.N.Y. 2014) (quoting National Asbestos Workers Med. Fund v. Philip Morris, Inc., 71 F.Supp.2d 139, 162-63 (E.D.N.Y. 1999) ).

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Adar Bays, LLC v. Aim Exploration, Inc., 310 F. Supp. 3d 454 (S.D. Ill. 2018).

310 F. Supp. 3d 454 (Adar Bays, LLC v. Aim Exploration, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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