Milltex Industries Corp. v. Jacquard Lace Co.

153 F.R.D. 44, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16386, 1992 WL 559686
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedOctober 23, 1992
DocketNo. 88 Civ. 3489 (TPG)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 153 F.R.D. 44 (Milltex Industries Corp. v. Jacquard Lace Co.) 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
Milltex Industries Corp. v. Jacquard Lace Co., 153 F.R.D. 44, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16386, 1992 WL 559686 (S.D.N.Y. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION

GRIESA, Chief Judge.

This is a motion requesting that sanctions be imposed upon defendant Jacquard Lace Company, Ltd. and its attorney, Avrom Vann, Esq.

The motion for sanctions is granted to the extent described hereafter.

FACTS

The basic facts giving rise to this lawsuit are set forth in the opinion of the Court of Appeals, Milltex Industries Corp. v. Jacquard Lace Company, Ltd., 922 F.2d 164 (2d Cir.1991). Additional facts relevant to the sanctions motion are set forth in detail. The court’s findings are based to a substantial extent on testimony taken, and materials submitted to the court, commencing in 1990 when the court began a detailed inquiry into the conduct of the parties and the attorneys in this action.

On March 7,1988 Jacquard filed suit in an Alabama state court. That was a suit to recover the price of goods sold and delivered. Jacquard was the seller and Milltex was the buyer.

On May 13, 1988 Milltex filed the present action in the federal court in New York City. Milltex claimed that Jacquard was liable to it in damages since Jacquard agreed to supply a particular quantity of goods and only supplied part of what was agreed upon.

In the course of time the substance of the Jacquard Alabama complaint became a counterclaim in the federal court action, and the substance of the Milltex federal complaint became a counterclaim in the Alabama action. Thus, there were two separate actions raising the same issues.

There was no application made to the federal court to stay or delay the federal action. Indeed, until certain events occurred at the time the trial of the federal action was almost concluded, the federal court was not notified of the existence of the Alabama action.

The Federal Court Trial

The federal case proceeded promptly to trial. December 31, 1988 was established as the date when discovery was to be completed and the case was marked ready for trial on reasonable notice after that date. On February 7,1989 the parties were notified that trial would commence on February 15, 1989, which in fact it did.

Milltex was represented at the trial by its New York attorney, Arthur R. Lehman, Esq. Jacquard was represented by its New York attorney, Avrom Vann, Esq.

Lehman has testified that at the conclusion of a deposition held on December 22,1988 he and Vann agreed that the first action to go to trial would be dispositive (Transcript of April 19, 1990 pp. 6-7, 18-20). According to Lehman, this was an oral agreement not placed on the record of the deposition or otherwise reduced to writing. Vann testified that there was no such agreement (Tr. 12-14).

It is not of crucial importance to determine whether the precise agreement testified to by Lehman was entered into. The fact is that the New York action was the first to come to trial. Both parties commenced that trial without referring in any way to the Alabama action. Needless to say, this conduct signalled the intention of both parties to try the issues in the federal court in New York and obtain a judgment from that court disposing of these issues. The court has no [46]*46reason to believe that, as of the time the trial commenced, the parties had any other intention. The problem which gives rise to the present sanctions motion is the fact that Jacquard and its attorney Vann subsequently decided to abandon the New York action beforé the trial was completed and to pursue the Alabama action.

Shortly before the New York trial started, Jacquard advised the court that it believed that it was entitled to summary judgment on the basis of the Statute of Frauds. Since trial was imminent, the court decided to hear argument on that point at the opening of the trial. The case was called for trial on February 15 and argument was held on the Statute of Frauds issue. The court ruled that this issue involved factual problems requiring trial. The case therefore moved immediately into the trial on February 15. This was a Wednesday.

Once the court ruled that summary judgment could not be granted, Jacquard participated in the trial without objection. No mention was made of the pending Alabama case.

This was a non-jury case. The two main witnesses on the issue of liability (as distinct from damages) were Michael P. Selim, president of Milltex, and Pañis Diamantis, chief operating officer of Jacquard. Selim resides in New York City. Diamantis lives in Huntsville, Alabama. Both attended the trial and testified. ,

As already described, there was a trial session on Wednesday, February 15. There was also a trial session during the afternoon of Thursday, February 16.

As of the end of the day the 16th, the trial was not going well for Jacquard. Diamantis had given patently untruthful testimony about his negotiations with Selim. The problem with the Diamantis testimony was summarized by the court in the transcript of June 22, 1989 at pages 2-5.

One of the critical points in the case was whether or not there was an agreement for Jacquard to furnish 40,000 pounds of fabric, as Milltex claimed, or only 20,000 pounds, as Jacquard claimed. Selim testified that the agreement for 40,000 pounds was made at a meeting in January 1987. Diamantis, in his responsive testimony, purported to cover meetings between the parties, including the January meeting, but actually said very little about what occurred (Tr. 151-52). Then, when pressed by the court, he described certain things that were said at the January meeting, but testified that nothing was said about quantity (Tr. 154). He then testified as to subsequent conversations with Selim, with no indication of any discussion of quantity until a problem arose and was resolved about the procurement of yarn. Diamantis said that at this point he requested approximately 17,000 pounds of yarn “to begin to use the machine” (Tr. 160). This would yield up to 25,000 pounds of fabric (Tr. 166). Diamantis then said that he sent Milltex a confirmation for 20,000 pounds.

At this juncture the court asked whether there had been an oral agreement for 20,000 pounds (Tr. 161). Diamantis answered that there had been no real agreement as to any quantity but that there were “a lot of figures mentioned” (Tr. 161). The court then noted that Diamantis had not previously testified about discussions of a lot of figures, and asked what figures had been mentioned (Tr. 161-62). Diamantis then testified that figures had been mentioned “during the general business discussions ... 10 and 15 and 5 and 20 and 30,000 pounds” (Tr. 162). The court then asked Diamantis to go back and describe the discussions of figures. In response to this, Diamantis testified that “one specific thing” he remembered was that he said that in order for Jacquard to make the fabric with the particular design requested, Jacquard “needed a substantial quantity” to be ordered; Jacquard needed a “substantial order in order to justify the expenses of setting up the machine” (Tr. 162-63). Diam-antis then said that he did not give Selim any specific figure defining a “substantial order” (Tr. 163). He then reiterated his testimony that a number of figures were mentioned in the course of the discussions but could not testify as to the specifics of what in fact was mentioned about particular figures (Tr. 164-65).

[47]

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

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
153 F.R.D. 44, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16386, 1992 WL 559686, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/milltex-industries-corp-v-jacquard-lace-co-nysd-1992.