Full Text
Case 1:20-cv-02048-DG-KAM Document 60 Filed 08/18/20 Page 5 of 13
II. MAXWELL'S MOTION FOR A STAY
A. Applicable Legal Standards
Although staying a civil action pending the completion of a criminal prosecution against a named defendant has been characterized as an "extraordinary remedy," Louis Vuitton Malletier S.A. v. LY USA, Inc., 676 F.3d 83, 98 (2d Cir. 2012), "courts will not hesitate to grant a stay 'when the interests of justice seem to require' it," Sec. & Exch. Comm'n v. LaGuardia, 435 F. Supp. 3d 616, 621 (S.D.N.Y. 2020) (citing In re Worldcom, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 02cv3288 (DLC), 2002 WL 31729501, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 5, 2002)) (granting a stay where there was overlap of issues in the civil and criminal cases and explaining that overlap of issues is a particularly significant factor); see also Trustees of Plumbers & Pipefitters Nat. Pension Fund v. Transworld Mech., Inc., 886 F. Supp. 1134 (S.D.N.Y. 1995) (same); Volmar Distributors, Inc. v. New York Post Co., 152 F.R.D. 36, 42 (S.D.N.Y. 1993) (staying civil discovery pending completion of the criminal case against the defendant); Sec. & Exch. Comm'n v. Shkreli, No. 15-CV-7175 (KAM) (RML), 2016 WL 1122029, at *7 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 2, 2016) (same).
Ultimately, the decision as to whether to issue such a stay rests in the discretion of the district court, Louis Vuitton Malletier, 676 F.3d at 99, and each case requires a particularized inquiry, see id., at 98. In determining whether a civil action should be stayed in the face of a parallel criminal proceeding, courts in this District have generally been guided by six factors: (1) the extent to which the issues in the criminal case overlap with those presented in the civil case; (2) the status of the criminal case, including whether the defendant has been indicted; (3) the private interests of the plaintiff in proceeding expeditiously weighed against the prejudice to the plaintiff caused by the delay; (4) the private interests of and burden on the defendant; (5) the interests of the court(s); and (6) the public interest. See id.; see also, e.g., Trustees of
5
DOJ-OGR-00019449