Roberts v. Roberts

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DATE FILED: 05/11/ 2023 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK -------------------------------------------------------------- X ELIZABETH W. ROBERTS, : Plaintiff, : : -against- : : 23-CV-1196 (VEC) MICHAEL T. ROBERTS, individually, as a : Trustee of the ELIZABETH W. ROBERTS : ORDER PORTFOLIO GRANTOR TRUST u/a/d June 14, : 2013, and as a Trustee of the ELIZABETH W. : ROBERTS CORPORATE GRANTOR TRUST : u/a/d June 14, 2013, : : : Defendant. : -------------------------------------------------------------- X VALERIE CAPRONI, United States District Judge: WHEREAS on January 11, 2023, Plaintiff sued Defendant for breach of fiduciary duty in connection with his administration of trusts and their investments and seeks, inter alia, an accounting with respect to Defendant’s administration of the trusts and management of trust investments, see Compl., Dkt. 1-1; WHEREAS on March 7, 2023, Defendant moved to dismiss this case on the grounds that, inter alia, the Court should abstain from exercising federal jurisdiction under Colorado River Water Conservation Dist. v. United States, 424 U.S. 800 (1976), in light of parallel state court proceedings in New Jersey, see Def. Mem., Dkt. 10; WHEREAS if two parallel lawsuits are in rem or quasi in rem, “the state or federal court having custody of such property has exclusive jurisdiction to proceed,” FDIC v. Four Star Holding Co., 178 F.3d 97, 102 (2d Cir. 1999) (quoting Donovan v. City of Dallas, 377 U.S. 408, 412 (1964) and citing Princess Lida of Thurn & Taxis v. Thompson, 305 U.S. 456, 466 (1939)); WHEREAS this rule also applies to cases that are “akin to in rem or quasi in rem,” such as those “brought to marshall assets, administer trusts, or liquidate estates,” Double Alpha, Inc. v. Mako Partners, L.P., No. 99-CV-11541, 2001 WL 492436 , at *2 (S.D.N.Y. May 9, 2001) (citing Lankenau v. Coggeshall & Hicks, 350 F.2d 61, 64 (2d Cir. 1965)); see also Mercer v. Bank of N.Y. Mellon, N.A., 609 F. App’x 677, 679-80 (2d Cir. 2015); Weingarten v. Warren, 753 F. Supp. 491, 495 (S.D.N.Y. 1990); and WHEREAS a federal court acquires jurisdiction over the res upon the action’s commencement, Four Star Holding Co., 178 F.3d at 102 ; IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that not later than Wednesday, May 24, 2023, both parties must submit supplemental briefing to the Court, not to exceed three single-spaced pages each, regarding whether the Court has exclusive jurisdiction over this action because it 1s in rem, quasi in rem, or sufficiently akin to such an action under the doctrine spawned by Princess Lida. SO ORDERED. \ ee Date: May 11, 2023 VALERIE aI New York, New York United States District Judge