Corbrus, LLC v. 8th Bridge Capital, Inc.

District Court, C.D. California·Decided July 30, 2020·No. 2:19-cv-10182·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA CIVIL MINUTES — GENERAL ‘O’ 2:17-cv-08958-CAS(AFMx Date July 30, 2020 Case No. Title MOSES CHOLET AL v. 8TH BRIDGE CAPITAL, INC. ET AL. CORBRUS, LLC v. 8TH BRIDGE CAPITAL, INC. ET AL.

Present: The Honorable CHRISTINA A. SNYDER Catherine Jeang Not Present N/A Deputy Clerk Court Reporter / Recorder Tape No. Attorneys Present for Plaintiffs: Attorneys Present for Defendants: Not Present Not Present Proceedings: (IN CHAMBERS) - JOINT STIPULATION TO CONTINUE CHOI TRIAL (Dkt. [ 198 ], filed July 27, 2020) DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO CONSOLIDATE CHOI AND CORBRUS ACTIONS (Dkt. [ 108 J, filed January 27, 2020) I. JOINT STIPULATION TO CONTINUE CHOI TRIAL On July 27, 2020, plaintiffs Moses Choi (“Choi”) and Southeast Regional Center, LLC (“SRC”) (collectively, “the Choi plaintiffs”), and defendants 8th Bridge Capital, Inc.; 8th Bridge Capital, LLC; Young Hun Kim (“Kim”); Manhattan Real Estate Fund GP, LLC: Manhattan Real Estate Fund, LP: Manhattan Real Estate Fund II, LP: Manhattan Real Estate Equity Fund, LP: and Patrick Jongwon Chang (“the Choi defendants”) filed a joint stipulation to continue the November 3, 2020 trial to May 18, 2021.' Dkt. 198. The parties aver that a continuance is appropriate so that: (1) the parties can wait until the end of the calendar year to obtain “updated projections [that] would reflect the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the parties” which “would be significant and would serve the aim of promoting settlement’; and (2) the parties “may pursue further settlement efforts with Magistrate Judge Standish in March 2021, after the 2020 financial results have been finalized and the parties’ expert reports have been exchanged.” Id. at 3-4. “A district court has ‘broad discretion’ to grant or deny a continuance.” United States v. Kloehn, 620 F.3d 1122, 1126 (9th Cir. 2010). Accordingly, a district court’s order granting or denying a continuance “‘will not be disturbed on appeal absent clear abuse of

For the sake of clarity and convenience, the Court refers to the record and docket in Moses Choi et al. v. 8th Bridge Capital, Inc. et al., 2:17-cv-08958-CAS-AFMx (C.D. Cal.), unless otherwise specified.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA CIVIL MINUTES — GENERAL ‘O’ 2:17-cv-08958-CAS(AFMx Date July 30, 2020 Case No □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ Title MOSES CHOLET AL v. 8TH BRIDGE CAPITAL, INC. ET AL. CORBRUS, LLC v. 8TH BRIDGE CAPITAL, INC. ET AL. that discretion.” United States v. Flynt, 756 F.2d 1352, 1358 (9th Cir. 1985). “An abuse of discretion will be found only where denial of the continuance was arbitrary or unreasonable.” United States v. de Cruz, 82 F.3d 856, 860 (9th Cir. 1996) (internal citation omitted). “In determining whether the denial of a continuance is an abuse of discretion in civil proceedings, the federal courts often have applied standards established in the context of the criminal law.” Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, 9 Fed. Prac. & Proc. Civ. § 2352 (3d ed.). Ultimately, “|w]hether the district court abused its discretion” in denying a request to continue a trial “depends on the facts of each case. United States v. 2.61 Acres of Land, More or Less, Situated in Mariposa Cty., State of Cal., 791 F.2d 666, 670 (9th Cir. 1985). Here, at the request of the parties, the Court has already continued trial in the Choi action on a number of occasions. For example, during the August 13, 2018 scheduling conference, the Court originally set trial for October 15, 2019. Dkt. 60. The parties then stipulated to continue the trial on February 25, 2019. Dkt. 72. Pursuant to the parties’ first stipulation, the Court continued the trial to February 25, 2020. Dkts. 74, 80. On September 24, 2019, the Choi plaintiffs filed an ex parte application to modify the scheduling order and continue the February 25, 2020 trial by “at least” 60 days. Dkt. 81. In response, the Choi defendants opposed continuing the trial by 60 days, but indicated that they “are fine with continuing the Trial Date 30-45 days.” Dkt. 83 at 4. Accordingly, on October 7, 2019, the Court subsequently continued trial in the Choi matter to April 7, 2020. Dkt. 88 at 5. On February 10, 2020, the Choi defendants filed an ex parte application to continue the April 7, 2020 trial date while they pursued a miscellaneous action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to enforce a third-party subpoena. Dkt. 131. On February 24, 2020, the Court continued the April 7, 2020 trial to August 11, 2020. Dkt. 160. On April 7, 2020, the parties jointly stipulated—and the Court agreed—to continue the trial to November 3, 2020. Dkts. 180, 181. During the July 13, 2020 hearing on the Choi plaintiffs’ motion for leave to file an amended complaint with new claims against additional parties, the parties each made oral requests to continue the November 3, 2020 trial, which the Court denied. Dkt. 194. At bottom, the parties fail to meaningfully explain why they cannot pursue settlement—using projections that predict the parties’ anticipated financial conditions through the end of 2020—in a manner that does not require further delay of trial. See Danjaq LLC v. Sony Corp., 263 F.3d 942, 961 (9th Cir. 2001) (determining that a party seeking a continuance must establish “mandatory . . . element” which “requires a

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA CIVIL MINUTES — GENERAL ‘Oo’ 2:17-cv-08958-CAS(AFMx Date July 30, 2020 Case No, 219-0 10182-CAS(AFM) Title MOSES CHOI AL v. 8TH BRIDGE CAPITAL, INC. ET AL. CORBRUS, LLC v. 8TH BRIDGE CAPITAL, INC. ET AL. demonstration of prejudice” in absence of continuance). Moreover, the fact that the Court has already continued the trial four times further weighs against another continuance. See Danjaq, 263 F.3d at 961 (finding that district court properly exercised its discretion in denying request for continuance because continuance would result in “inconvenience to the court” and “repeated delays”); accord Grunewald v. Missouri Pac. R. Co., 331 F.2d 983, 987 (8th Cir. 1964) (concluding that district court properly denied request for continuance of trial where, inter alia, the “case was set five times for trial and a sixth date was requested.”). For these reasons, the Court DENIES the parties’ request to continue the November 3, 2020 trial to May 18, 2021. The parties’ joint stipulation requests, in the alternative, that “[i]f the trial date is not continued,” the Court set the following dates: (1) September 18, 2020, as the deadline for the exchange of expert rebuttal reports; and (2) October 9, 2020, as the expert discovery cut-off. Dkt. 198. The Court GRANTS the parties’ stipulation to the extent that they seek to set September 18, 2020, as the deadline for the exchange of expert rebuttal reports and October 9, 2020, as the expert discovery cut-off. Finally, the parties’ joint stipulation also requests that the parties be able “to conduct the remaining depositions in this case remotely pursuant to Rule 30(b) . . . due to the COVID-19 pandemic].]” Dkt. 198. The parties set forth specific “procedures for such remote depositions.” Id. The Court GRANTS the parties’ stipulation to conduct remote depositions pursuant to the parties’ agreed-upon protocol. Il.

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Corbrus, LLC v. 8th Bridge Capital, Inc., (C.D. Cal. 2020).

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