Arthur Glick Truck Sales, Inc. v. Stuphen East Corp.

965 F. Supp. 2d 402, 81 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 352, 2013 WL 4028184, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111991
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedAugust 8, 2013
DocketCase No. 11-CV-2824 (KMK)
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 965 F. Supp. 2d 402 (Arthur Glick Truck Sales, Inc. v. Stuphen East Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arthur Glick Truck Sales, Inc. v. Stuphen East Corp., 965 F. Supp. 2d 402, 81 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 352, 2013 WL 4028184, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111991 (S.D.N.Y. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

KENNETH M. KARAS, District Judge.

“Inveterate UCC geek[s]” are advised to draw near: On Plaintiffs Motion for Reconsideration, the Court must revisit this “classic” Article 9 case. Tim Zinnecker, You Had Me at “UCC” The Faculty Lounge (Apr. 1, 2013, 10:16 a.m.), http:// www.thefacultylounge.org/2013/04/you-hadme-at-uce.html.

Plaintiff and Defendant each claim to possess a superior interest in two truck chassis. Plaintiff is the consignor of the chassis; Defendant provided surety bonds to two Fire Districts that purchased the chassis. In a previous Opinion and Order dated December 18, 2012, the Court found [404]*404that the Fire Districts qualified as buyers in the ordinary course under the Uniform Commercial Code (“the UCC”), which governed this dispute; that Defendant could assert the Districts’ interests in the chassis; and that Defendant’s interest in the chassis was superior to Plaintiff. (Dkt. No. 51.) Plaintiff seeks reconsideration of the Court’s Order.

Plaintiffs Motion is denied. First, this is the paradigmatic case that the strict rules governing motions for reconsideration were written to prevent: Plaintiff had both a pre-argument and, over Defendant’s objections, a post-argument opportunity to brief the factual and legal issues that Plaintiff raises in its instant Motion for Reconsideration. See Schuster v. Dragone Classic Motor Cars, No. 99-CV-2163, 2000 WL 1585685, at *2 (Oct. 25, 2000) (denying plaintiffs request for attorney’s fees, where plaintiff had an initial opportunity to establish fees but “did not take advantage of it”; where the Court “permitted [plaintiff] to remedy that failure” but his response was “neither timely nor sufficient”; and where Plaintiff sought “a third bite at the apple ... in a manner directly proscribed by the rules of this Court”). Second, for reasons that the Court will explain, Plaintiffs arguments are substantively without merit.

I. Background

The Court assumes the Parties’ familiarity with the factual and procedural history of this case, as described in Arthur Glick Truck Sales v. Stuphen East Corp., 914 F.Supp.2d 529 (S.D.N.Y.2012). The Court will summarize the relevant history here only briefly. Plaintiff was an ongoing consignor of fire truck chassis to Wolverine Fire Apparatus Company (“Wolverine”), which built completed fire trucks on the chassis and then sold them to fire districts. This dispute arises from contracts that Wolverine entered into with the Beaverkill Valley Fire District and the Forest Waverly Fire Department (“the Fire Districts”) — each for the sale of a completed fire truck. Defendant provided surety bonds to the Fire Districts guaranteeing Wolverine’s performance. Wolverine ordered chassis for the trucks from Plaintiff. Wolverine began construction, but went into bankruptcy prior to completing the fire trucks. The Fire Districts filed claims on their respective surety bonds against Defendant; Defendant acquired the fire chassis from Wolverine’s bankruptcy estate; Defendant arranged for completion of the fire trucks by other providers; and Defendant ultimately arranged for delivery of the completed fire trucks to the Fire Districts. Plaintiff, which was to receive payment from Wolverine following the completed sale of the fire trucks to the Fire Districts, seeks damages from Defendant for the value of the two truck chassis, for which Plaintiff has never been paid. In an Opinion and Order dated December 18, 2012, the Court granted Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment against Plaintiff, finding that Defendant’s interest in the chassis was superior to Plaintiffs. See Glick, 914 F.Supp.2d at 532. Plaintiff filed a timely Motion for Reconsideration of the Court’s grant of summary judgment.

II. Discussion

A. Standard of Review

“Motions for reconsideration are governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) and Local Civil Rule 6.3, which are meant to ensure the finality of decisions and to prevent the practice of a losing party examining a decision and then plugging the gaps of a lost motion with additional matters.” Pla v. Renaissance Equity Holdings LLC, No. 12-CV-5268, 2013 WL 3185560, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. June 24, 2013) (internal quotation marks omitted). “The standard for granting a motion for reconsideration under Local Rule 6.3 is [405]*405strict, so as to avoid repetitive arguments on issues that have been considered fully by the Court.” Sampson v. Robinson, No. 07-CV-6890, 2008 WL 4779079, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 31, 2008) (internal quotation marks omitted). Furthermore, a “motion for reconsideration is not an opportunity for a losing party to advance new arguments to supplant those that failed in the prior briefing of the issue.” VR Global Partners, L.P. v. Bennett (In re Refco Capital Mkts., Ltd. Brokerage Customer Sec. Litig.), Nos. 06-CV-643, 07-CV-8686, 07-CV-8688, 2008 WL 4962985, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 20, 2008). “Rather, to be entitled to reconsideration, a movant must demonstrate that the Court overlooked controlling decisions or factual matters that were put before it on the underlying motion, which, had they been considered might reasonably have altered the result reached by the court.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Pla, 2013 WL 3185560, at *1 (“Such a motion is appropriate where the moving party can point to controlling decisions or data that the court overlooked — matters, in other words, that might reasonably be expected to alter the conclusion reached by the court.” (internal quotation marks omitted)). In other words, “[r]econsideration is appropriate only where there is an intervening change of controlling law, newly available evidence, or the need to correct a clear error or prevent manifest injustice.” In re Refco, 2008 WL 4962985, at *1 (internal quotation marks omitted).

B. The Special Circumstances Meriting Reconsideration

At the outset, Plaintiff suggests that this case is a particularly appropriate candidate for reconsideration, because of “the complexity of the interplay between the [UCC] ... and the motor vehicle registration statutes as enacted in similar, but not identical forms, by [New York, Wisconsin, and Michigan,]” and because the Court “decided the case upon grounds not urged or briefed by either party.” (Pl.’s Mem. of Law (A) for Recons.; Local Rule 6.3 and (B) for Similar Relief in Accordance with FRCP 59 & 60 (“Pl.’s Recons. Mem.”) 1.)

The Court is surprised and disappointed by Plaintiffs suggestions — both that the issues were too “complex[]” to be effectively briefed in the first (or second) round and that the Court decided the case on grounds not briefed by the Parties. In fact, Defendant has consistently and correctly maintained that pursuant to Article 9, section 311 of the UCC, the UCC’s priority rules, not the state certificate-of-title statutes, govern the Parties’ interests in the chassis. (See Def.’s Mem. in Supp. of Summ. J. (“Def.’s SJ Mem.”) 1-2, 5-10 (arguing that the Party’s interests are defined by Article 9 of the UCC); Def.’s Reply in Supp. of Summ. J. (“Def.’s SJ Reply”) 4-7 (arguing that “Article 9 of the [UCC] governs the priority of interests in the chassis” (emphasis omitted); Def.’s Resp. in Supp. of Summ. J.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
965 F. Supp. 2d 402, 81 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 352, 2013 WL 4028184, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111991, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arthur-glick-truck-sales-inc-v-stuphen-east-corp-nysd-2013.