Opinion
16 Civ. 7452 (RWS)
10-21-2016
MARATHON SEARCH PARTNERS OF BURLINGTON, INC., Plaintiff, v. ERIC AXELROD, PINNACLE SEARCH PROFESSIONALS, LLC, and JENNIFER DUNCAN-BOYDEN Defendants.
APPEARANCES: Attorneys for Plaintiff LAW OFFICES OF DAVID J. PANITZ 50 Main Street Hackensack, NJ 07601 By: David J. Panitz, Esq. Attorneys for Defendants RUSKIN MOSCOU FALTISCHEK, P.C. 1425 RXR Plaza, East Tower, 15th Fl. Uniondale, NY 11556 By: Thomas A. Telesca, Esq.
OPINION APPEARANCES: Attorneys for Plaintiff
LAW OFFICES OF DAVID J. PANITZ
50 Main Street
Hackensack, NJ 07601
By: David J. Panitz, Esq.
Attorneys for Defendants
RUSKIN MOSCOU FALTISCHEK, P.C.
1425 RXR Plaza, East Tower, 15th Fl.
Uniondale, NY 11556
By: Thomas A. Telesca, Esq. Sweet, D.J.
Plaintiff has moved to consolidate this action with a related action titled, Eric Axelrod v. Howard Klein, et al., No 16 Civ. 7183 (AJC). At the time Plaintiff filed the motion to consolidate, the related action was pending in the Southern District before the Honorable Andrew J. Carter. However, on October 14, 2016, Judge Carter remanded the first-filed action to Vermont state court. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42(a), the Court only has the power to consolidate actions before the same federal district court. Facen v. Royal Rotterdam Lloyd S S Co., 12 F.R.D. 443 (S.D.N.Y. 1952). The motion to consolidate is denied because the related action is now pending in Vermont state court.
Defendants request reasonable attorneys' fees for their efforts to defend their client against this meritless motion under 28 U.S.C. § 1927 for "multipl[ying] the proceeding in any case unreasonably and vexatiously." 28 U.S.C. § 1927. Judge Carter has awarded fees for removing the related case serving the purpose of awarding fees to penalize a party for filing a motion without merit and the motion for a fee award is denied.
It is so ordered. New York, NY
October 21, 2016
/s/ _________
ROBERT W. SWEET
U.S.D.J.