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By Matthew Russell Lee

SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 12 – As a series of defendants were sentenced to 60 and then 120 months in prison the other side of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York was on display on April 12 when SDNY Judge Alison Nathan processed seven civil cases in an hour on matters of discovery and mediation. First up was Spear Pharmaceuticals v Mylan Pharmaceuticals, with each side thinking that documents from Bauch will support it. It was assigned to Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, who spent the week processing indictees from alleged murders to doctors accused of Oxy manslaughter now driving Uber. The next case was assigned to fellow Magistrate Barbara Moses. Then the ADA case against Spice Corner 236, with the same plaintiffs' attorney a moment later suing 326 Restaurant Corp. There was FSLA against THree Star Diner and the predators at Pay-O-Matic. But on the listed case of City of Almaty v Ablyasov, there was nothing... Inner City Press will continue to cover such cases.

  Earlier on April 12 in corporate litigation that got other media coverage, lawyers for Woody Allen believe the decision by Amazon to cancel his four picture deal may go all the way up to Jeff Bezos and they may seek to depose Bezos, they told SDNY Judge Denise Cote on April 12. Amazon, represented by a single lawyer, said that Allen's comments against the Me Too movement broke an "implied covenant" and represented "frustration of purpose." Allen was quoted that the Movement should not be permitted to become a witch hunt.

 Judge Cote was setting up a schedule for summary judgment motions when it emerged that the contract precludes a jury trial. And so she set her own bench trial for February 2020, contingent on the results of private mediation the parties said they are beginning. Amazon's lone lawyer declined to speak to the press afterward. Inside, he emphasized that beyond "A Rainy Day in New York" which is already in the can, the other three films are proceeding with third party financing, mitigating damages. The case is Gravier Productions et al. v. Amazon Content Services LLC et al., 19-cv-1169 (DLC).

 The Woody Allen and Gravier Productions lawyers, in the elevator, wondered at the "Ghana fraudster" sentencing Inner City Press has been covering in Judge Cote's courtroom before their intial pre trial conference. Was it Federal because the amount in controversy was over $75,000? No, because it was a conspiracy, including emailed romance scams. Inner City Press recounted Judge Cote's apparent anger at such a scam. Relevant to this case? Or was Judge Cote's comment welcoming the female attorney as the one who actually does the work a sign of things to come? We'll continue to follow these cases. It was noted that Bezos will be at the SDNY to speak with the U.S. Attorney's Office. We'll have more on this.