Parker Waichman LLP v. Salas LC

320 F. Supp. 3d 327
CourtUnited States District Court
DecidedMay 25, 2018
DocketCivil No. 16–1333 (FAB)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 320 F. Supp. 3d 327 (Parker Waichman LLP v. Salas LC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States District Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Parker Waichman LLP v. Salas LC, 320 F. Supp. 3d 327 (usdistct 2018).

Opinion

BESOSA, District Judge.

Before the Court are defendants John F. Nevares and Associates, P.S.C.'s ("Nevares"), and Salas & Company, L.C.'s ("Salas") (collectively, "defendants")s' motion to strike pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 (" Rule 56") and Local Rule 7(a) (Docket No. 201); defendants' motion for summary judgment filed pursuant to Rule 56 (Docket No. 182); plaintiff Parker Waichman LLP ("Parker")'s motion to withdraw its request for a jury trial pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 38 (" Rule 38") (Docket No. 197); defendants' motion for partial dismissal of the quantum meruit claim pursuant to Local Rule 7(a) (Docket No. 198); and co-defendant Eric Quetglas-Jordan ("Quetglas")'s motion requesting leave to file an amended crossclaim pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 15 (" Rule 15") and 16 ("Rule 16") (Docket No. 188).1 For the reasons set forth below, the defendants' motion to strike (Docket No. 201), the defendants' motion for summary judgment (Docket No. 182), Parker's motion to withdraw its request for a jury trial (Docket No. 197), and the defendants' motion for *331partial dismissal (Docket No. 198) are all DENIED , and Quetglas' motion requesting leave to file the amended crossclaim (Docket No. 188) is GRANTED.

I. Background

In November 2009, Parker Waichman Alonso LLP ("Parker Waichman Alonso")2 and the defendants (collectively, "parties") executed a "Confidential Operating Agreement for Plaintiff Attorney Group in Caribbean Petroleum Oil and Fire Litigation" ("CAPECO Agreement," or "Agreement"). (Docket No. 14, Ex. 1.)3 The CAPECO Agreement created a "Plaintiff Attorney Group" for the parties to prosecute collectively claims arising from the October 2009 explosion at the Caribbean Petroleum Corporation tank farm in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. (Docket No. 14, Ex. 1 at p. 1.) The Agreement stipulated that all parties "shall commit to actively participate" and "fully cooperate with one another for the common benefit" of the claimants. Id. Parker Waichman Alonso agreed to advance the "[c]apital expenditures necessary to fund the prosecution." Id. at p. 2.4

The Agreement sets forth a process by which to reimburse the parties' expenses and distribute attorney's fees. Id. The parties agreed to first, reimburse member firms' capital expenditures, and second, allocate fees to reimburse out of pocket expenses "that [were] not for specific cases." Id. The parties agreed to share the remaining fees among themselves equally. Id.

In February 2016, Parker commenced this action, contending that the defendants "unilaterally terminated the CAPECO Agreement" without reimbursing Parker for its "capital contributions," or distributing "the net amount of attorney's fees to which [Parker] is entitled under the CAPECO Agreement." (Docket No. 1 at p. 5.) Parker allegedly "invested the sum of $188,586.50 in capital expenditures necessary for the prosecution," including $86,499.39 in advertising for the joint venture. (Docket No. 186 at p. 2.) Parker also purportedly "invested a substantial amount of 'man hours' in attorneys and paralegal time" to prosecute the claims. (Docket No. 93 at p. 3.)5 Parker sought specific performance of the CAPECO Agreement and, alternatively, recovery pursuant to the doctrine of quantum meruit . See id.

In July 2017, the Court found that the CAPECO Agreement is unenforceable and dismissed Parker's specific performance claim. Parker Waichman LLP v. Salas LC, 263 F.Supp.3d 369, 380 (D.P.R. 2017) (Besosa, J.). The Court nonetheless allowed Parker to pursue equitable relief through the doctrine of quantum meruit . Id.

II. Jurisdiction

The Court has jurisdiction over this civil action because the dispute is between citizens of different states and the matter in *332controversy exceeds $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1).

III. Defendants' Motion to Strike

On March 9, 2018, the defendants filed a motion to strike assertions and evidence filed by Parker in opposition to the defendants' motion for summary judgment. (Docket No. 201; see Docket Nos. 186 & 187.) The defendants claim that "a number of [Parker's] additional purportedly uncontested facts ... were supported by an affidavit, a deposition transcripts [sic] and various unauthenticated documents," which are "inadmissible per se and are otherwise hearsay." (Docket No. 201 at p. 2.) According to the defendants, "several portions of the affidavit and deposition transcript either contain inadmissible hearsay or incompetent testimony" and therefore must be "stricken [along with the unauthenticated documents] and may not be taken into consideration when ruling of [sic] the pending motion for summary juedgment [sic]." Id.

A. Legal Standard

At the summary judgment stage, a "party may object that the material cited to support or dispute a fact cannot be presented in a form that would be admissible in evidence." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(2). The nonmovant is not required, however, to "produce evidence in a form that would be admissible at trial in order to avoid summary judgment." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). An objection as to the admissibility of evidence must "not [be] that the material 'has not' been submitted in admissible form, but that it 'cannot' be." S.E.C. v. Ramírez, 2018 WL 2021464, at *6 (D.P.R. Apr. 30, 2018) (Delgado-Hernández, J.) (internal citations omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
320 F. Supp. 3d 327, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parker-waichman-llp-v-salas-lc-usdistct-2018.