Dennis v. K&L Gates LLP

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT USDC SDNY DOCUMENT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ELECTRONICALLY FILED WILLIE E. DENNIS, DOC #: DATE FILED: 3/24/20 21 Plaintiff, -against- 20-CV-9393 (MKV) K & L GATES LLP; DAVID TANG; JAMES SEGERDAHL; JEFFREY MALETTA; ORDER MICHAEL CACCESE; ANNETTE BECKER; PALLAVI WAHI; JOHN BICKS; AND CHARLES TEA, Defendants. MARY KAY VYSKOCIL, United States District Judge: The Court has received a motion to stay this proceeding pending disposition of a motion to compel arbitration filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. See Motion to Stay, ECF No. 5. After several extensions, the Court ordered Plaintiff to respond to the motion by March 22, 2021. See Order, ECF No. 32. Plaintiff did not file any opposition on that date, but did file an Amended Complaint. See Amended Complaint, ECF No. 34. The Amended Complaint alleges substantially the same causes of action as Plaintiff’s original complaint. While the motion was pending, Defendants filed a letter informing the Court that the motion to compel arbitration in the District of Columbia was granted. See Letter to Court, ECF No. 33. In light of that, Defendants now request a stay of the case to permit the arbitration to proceed. Id. at 1; see also Katz v. Cellco P’ship, 794 F.3d 341, 347 (2d Cir. 2015) (“[T]he text, structure, and underlying policy of the FAA mandate a stay of proceedings when all ofthe claims in an action have been referred to arbitration and a stay requested.”). The Motion is GRANTED. This case is stayed pending the outcome of the arbitration. The Parties are directed to file a joint status report regarding the status of the Parties’ arbitration on June 18, 2021, and every 90 days thereafter, until the arbitration is resolved. Upon resolution of the arbitration, the Parties should submit a joint letter to the Court within five days of the resolution. The Clerk of Court respectfully is requested to stay this case and close the motion at ECF No. 5. SO ORDERED. Dated: March 24, 2021 New York, New York / ‘ Ty oct Unitéd StatesWistrict Judge