U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni said in a brief order Monday that ex-King & Spalding associate David Joffe and the BigLaw firm "must be ready" to begin the trial on June 30, but noted that another jury trial currently set to begin the same day might interfere as the Southern District works to accommodate trials in courthouses squeezed by social distancing measures.
"The case will not proceed on June 30, 2021, if the first listed trial scheduled for that date goes forward," Judge Caproni said. "If trial in this matter cannot proceed on the scheduled date, the court will seek another jury trial date for as soon as possible thereafter."
SDNY judges are currently working with an assignment committee to approve dates for a backlog of trials after the court's most recent suspension of most in-person hearings expired Feb. 12.
While a total of seven courtrooms are set up to accommodate jury trials under COVID-19 safety protocols in downtown Manhattan's Thurgood Marshall Courthouse and adjacent Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse, there is only one area currently outfitted to hold COVID-safe jury selection, an SDNY spokesperson told Law360 Monday. This means that depending on the number of jurors called for a given case, it is at times only possible to begin one jury trial at a time, the spokesperson said.
Details for the other jury trial scheduled to begin June 30 were not immediately available on the SDNY's calendar.
Joffe's lawsuit dates back to 2017, when he sued King & Spalding alleging he was unlawfully fired after raising ethical concerns that two partners made false statements on behalf of then-client and Chinese telecom giant ZTE Corp. in a contract breach case.
Joffe first joined King & Spalding in January 2012 and worked in the firm's commercial litigation group, according to his complaint. He said he was removed from the firm's partnership track and had his pay frozen and his bonus revoked after raising concerns with the partners and reporting the alleged ethical snafus to the firm's general and outside counsel.
He was eventually fired in December 2016 and robbed of some of his retirement contributions in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, he said. Joffe agreed in November to forgo a jury trial on the ERISA claim, but will proceed in front of a jury on his wrongful termination claims.
The firm has denied the allegations, claiming that Joffe was an active player in the litigation that gave rise to the alleged breaches.
Joffe's trial, initially calendared for April 2020, has been pushed back a number of times due to the pandemic. Judge Caproni most recently delayed an April start date until June, but said she was "hopeful" that coronavirus case numbers would be low enough at that time to begin trial.
The dispute has been further complicated by Joffe's fight with his former lawyer at Javerbaum Wurgaft Hicks Kahn Wikstrom & Sinins PC over a lien on Joffe's potential winnings. After years of back and forth and a trip to the Second Circuit, Joffe and the lawyer, Andrew Moskowitz, cut a deal in January to end the spat.
Joffe declined to comment Monday on the new trial date. Counsel for King & Spalding did not respond to a request for comment.
Joffe is representing himself.
King & Spalding is represented by Joseph Baumgarten and Pinchos Nisson Goldberg of Proskauer Rose LLP.
The case is Joffe v. King & Spalding LLP, case number 1:17-cv-03392, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
--Additional reporting by Hailey Konnath, Amanda Ottaway, Pete Brush, Vin Gurrieri and Cara Salvatore. Editing by Regan Estes.
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