Yes, but only in New York? In a breach of contract case, a valuation trial was scheduled to determine damages. The court had already decided that the defendant was liable for damages, so the only remaining question was the amount of damages. Both sides had experts who submitted affidavits as to their opinion of the damages amount, which was based on the value of stock the defendant promised to purchase but then refused to close the deal. The plaintiff moved for summary judgment, saying that the damages could be established on paper as there were no issues of fact necessitating a trial. The defendant demanded an in-person trial, insisting that he had a right to cross-examine the plaintiff’s expert witness about his valuation of the stock. But the court disagreed and awarded damages to the plaintiff based on the papers filed. “Defendant has no right to cross examine witnesses at trial unless there is an issue of material fact,” states the court in its opinion. The defendant has appealed.

Attorney Franklin C. McRoberts (Farrell Fritz), who tipped us off to this case, has never seen a valuation trial conducted on papers alone, he says in a blog post. If any BVWire readers have had a similar experience, please let us know—email us at info@bvresources.com.

The case is Quattro Parent LLC v. Rakib, 2022 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 260, 2022 NY Slip Op 30190(U), and a case digest and the full opinion are available on the BVLaw platform.