Opinion
No. 02 Civ. 8726 (LAK).
July 28, 2005
ORDER
On February 25, 2005, the Court granted motions to dismiss the action. ATSI Communications, Inc. v. Shaar Fund, Ltd., 357 F.Supp.2d 712 (S.D.N.Y. 2005). Mindful of the mandate of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(c)(1), it invited the parties to submit papers on the issue of the appropriateness of sanctions. Defendants have responded with motions for sanctions that, after full briefing and together with plaintiff's response, number in the hundreds of pages. It is evident, moreover, that if the Court of Appeals were to overturn this Court's dismissal, all of the effort that has been and remains to be devoted to the sanctions issue will have been for naught. Even if the Court of Appeals affirms, the sanctions motions may appear in a different light. Furthermore, the ruling on the motions to dismiss is not dependent in any way upon the Court's view of the sanctions issue. Finally, if plaintiff, contrary to this Court's view, has filed a legally sufficient complaint, delay of resolution of the merits of the controversy for the time necessary to determine the sanctions motion would be needlessly prejudicial to the plaintiff.
Accordingly, the Court, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b), hereby determines that there is no just reason for delay and directs the Clerk to enter judgment dismissing the action, thus rendering the dismissal appealable. The motions for sanctions are denied without prejudice to reinstatement upon the earlier of (a) the expiration of the time within which to appeal from the judgment, entry of which is directed hereby, with no such appeal having been taken, and (b) the entry on the docket of the mandate of the Court of Appeals disposing of any appeal from that judgment.
SO ORDERED.
It is ORDERED that counsel to whom this Order is sent is responsible for faxing a copy to all counsel and retaining verification of such in the case file. Do not fax such verification to Chambers.