Connecticut Bankruptcy Court

Bankruptcy Case Closed. (kpb) (Entered: 04/06/2023)

BNC Certificate of Mailing - PDF Document. Notice Date 05/31/2020. (Admin.) (Entered: 06/01/2020)

BNC Certificate of Mailing - PDF Document. Notice Date 05/31/2020. (Admin.) (Entered: 06/01/2020)

ECF No. 151 Generated for BNC Noticing. (DeNicola, Donna) (Entered: 05/29/2020)

Justin Buck, Intervenor, filed a Motion for Contempt, ECF No. 135. In this involuntary bankruptcy case, the Court had approved a Stipulation, ECF No. 130, containing, inter alia, the agreements of the parties to dismiss the bankruptcy case, to pay certain reduced legal fees and to proceed to mediation on all other matters between them (many of which were unrelated to the bankruptcy or the jurisdiction of this Court). The parties agreed to the mediation and set forth its expansive contours in the Stipulation. Contrary to the arguments advanced by Mr. Buck during the hearing on this motion, the Court did not order mediation, as it had no authority to do so given that the scope and controversies that remained to be mediated clearly exceeded the issues properly before the Court. The Court simply approved these agreements and authorized the debtor to proceed in accordance with the Stipulation. With all due respect to the parties, the concomitant privilege of mediation confidentiality, which is central to the integrity of that process under both federal and state law applies here. That privilege generally precludes this Court from hearing or weighing the representations, negotiations and strategies of the parties in the mediation; only on rare occasions have courts recognized an exception to that privilege so as to measure a party's objective good faith compliance with a referral order or with the rules of court (i.e. did they appear, file papers, engage the mediator, listen and confer with counsel and the mediator). As this Court could not, and did not, order or direct the mediation (as opposed to, such as in the present case, commend, encourage or authorize it), it will not venture into that semi-sacred space here. Objectively, it appears to this Court, from undisputed representations of fact, that a mediation took place, the parties appeared and participated, the mediator was engaged, paid and active during the mediation, the mediator formulated possible resolutions and proposals and information (however incomplete or unsatisfactory) were exchanged by the parties. Nonetheless, a 7.5 hour unproductive and unsuccessful dialogue ensued. Under such circumstances, there is no cause to find that an Order of this Court was violated, particularly in the absence of a clear order directing the conduct of the parties, nor is there cause to find bad faith here by clear and convincing evidence, especially given the inappropriateness of this Court attempting to now measure the financial resources of the respondents to settle, to assess the emotional attitudes of the parties, or to weigh the merits of and responses to the various issues that the parties might attempt to value and address in that context. If there is an offense to Mr. Buck under the Stipulation in that Ms. Colon has allegedly failed to buy him out as a necessary predicate to her operating their business, it is but another covenant that the parties can choose to interminably litigate in a court of general jurisdiction. It is hereby
The Motion for Contempt is accordingly DENIED . Signed by Judge James J. Tancredi on May 29, 2020. (DeNicola, Donna) (Entered: 05/29/2020)

PDF with attached Audio File. Court Date & Time [ 5/27/2020 12:06:01 PM ]. File Size [ 17837 KB ]. Run Time [ 00:49:33 ]. (courtspeak). (Entered: 05/27/2020)

Hearing Held. Under Advisement (Watson, Lisa) (Entered: 05/27/2020)

Reply to (related document(s): 135 Motion For Contempt Filed by Anthony J. Natale on behalf of Justin Buck, Intervenor filed by Intervenor Justin Buck, 136 Memorandum of Law filed by Intervenor Justin Buck, 147 Affidavit filed by Corporate Owner Leticia Colon)Opposition to Motion for Contempt Filed by Anthony J. Natale on behalf of Justin Buck Intervenor, (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A # 2 Exhibit B # 3 Exhibit C) (Natale, Anthony) (Entered: 05/26/2020)

Affidavit (Corrected Declaration of N. Kane Bennett) Filed by Simon I. Allentuch on behalf of Leticia Colon Corporate Owner, (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1 # 2 Exhibit 2 # 3 Exhibit 3) (Allentuch, Simon) (Entered: 05/26/2020)

Regarding the hearing on the Motion for Contempt (the Motion, ECF No. 135), scheduled to be held on May 27, 2020 at 12:00 PM unless a withdrawal of the Motion, a request for continuance on consent of all parties is granted, a stipulation resolving the Motion, or a motion for continuance is granted for cause shown, the hearing will be held telephonically at 12:00 PM See, General Order No. 4. No later than 12:00 PM on May 26, 2020, the parties are directed to send an email to the Courtroom Deputy at [email protected] to obtain the dial-in information and instructions for AT&T Teleconference Service. (Watson, Lisa) (Entered: 05/22/2020)