On December 21, 2020 a
Motion-Secondary
was filed
involving a dispute between
Yasemin Tekiner,
Yasemin Tekiner
In Her Individual Capacity, As A Beneficiary And A Trustee Of The Yasemin Tekiner 2011 Descendants Trust And Derivatively As A Holder Of Equitable Interests In A Shareholder Or A Member Of The Company Defendants,
and
254-258 W. 35Th St. Llc,
Berrin Tekiner,
Billur Akipek
In Her Capacity As A Trustee Of The Yasemin Tekiner 2011 Descendants Trust,
Bremen House Inc.,
Bremen House Texas, Inc.,
German News Company, Inc.,
German News Texas, Inc.,
Gonca Tekiner,
Zeynep Tekiner,
for Commercial Division
in the District Court of New York County.
Preview
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 05/26/2021 05:03 PM INDEX NO. 657193/2020
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 123 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 05/26/2021
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COMMERCIAL DIVISION, NEW YORK COUNTY
-------------------------------------- x
YASEMIN TEKINER, :
:
in her individual capacity, as a beneficiary and a :
Trustee of The Yasemin Tekiner 2011 :
Descendants Trust and derivatively as a holder :
of equitable interests in a shareholder or a :
member of the Company Defendants, :
:
Plaintiff, :
: Index No. 657193/20
- against – :
:
BREMEN HOUSE INC., BREMEN HOUSE TEXAS, :
INC., GERMAN NEWS COMPANY, INC., GERMAN :
NEWS TEXAS, INC., 254 - 258 W. 35TH ST. LLC, :
BERRIN TEKINER, GONCA TEKINER, and :
BILLUR AKIPEK, in her capacity as a Trustee of :
The Yasemin Tekiner 2011 Descendants Trust, :
:
Defendants. :
-------------------------------------- X
Affirmation of Evan Mandel
EVAN MANDEL, being duly sworn, pursuant to C.P.L.R. § 2106, hereby affirms the
following to be true and correct under penalty of perjury:
1. I am an attorney duly admitted to practice before the courts of the State of New
York and am a member of the firm Mandel Bhandari LLP, located at 80 Pine Street, New York,
New York, 10005, counsel to Plaintiff Yasemin Tekiner (“Plaintiff” or “Yasemin”) in this action.
I am fully familiar with the facts and circumstances of this action by virtue of my personal
involvement as Plaintiff’s counsel and a review of the case files. I respectfully submit this
affirmation in support of Plaintiff’s Order To Show Cause To Extend the Case Schedule (the
“OSC”).
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FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 05/26/2021 05:03 PM INDEX NO. 657193/2020
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 123 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 05/26/2021
2. Although this Order To Show Cause is being filed by Plaintiff, it is supported by
all parties to this action.
3. The OSC seeks to extend virtually all of the deadlines in this action by
approximately ten weeks because the parties spent approximately ten weeks working
(unfortunately unsuccessfully) to settle the case. Attached as exhibit A is a chart that shows the
current deadlines set forth in the March 2, 2021 Preliminary Conference Order as well as the
proposed extended deadlines.
4. On March 2, the very same day of the Preliminary Conference, the parties agreed
to mediate the case. As the Court is aware, this is a dispute among family members about a
family business, and all parties wanted to settle the case if it was possible to do so.
5. On March 2, the parties began identifying a mediator and scheduling the
mediation. The parties proceeded to identify those documents that would need to be produced in
order to have a meaningful settlement discussion and then searched for and produced the relevant
documents. They decided to mediate the case before JAMS and drafted and exchanged
mediation statements.
6. On April 14, 2021, the parties attended an all-day mediation session that lasted
well into the evening. All parties agreed that resolution of the case involved tax and trusts and
estate issues that could not be resolved in a single day and, as a result, everyone agreed to
continue the mediation.
7. After the initial mediation session, the parties continued to make complex written
settlement offers. In order to understand these offers and potential alternative settlement
strategies, the parties attended numerous telephone calls with the mediator.
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FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 05/26/2021 05:03 PM INDEX NO. 657193/2020
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 123 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 05/26/2021
8. Ultimately, the parties agreed to attend a second all-day mediation session, which
was ultimately scheduled and held on May 7, 2021. Although the May 7 session did not lead to
a settlement, after the session, the parties continued to negotiate a potential settlement with the
mediator and continued to identify potential settlement structures.
9. Unfortunately, these substantial efforts that began in early March and ended in
mid-May did not lead to a settlement. As a result, the parties respectfully request an extension of
the case deadlines.
10. The parties seek to extend virtually all of the deadlines by approximately ten
weeks, the amount of time that the parties were attempting to settle this complicated case. The
one notable exception is the deposition deadline: the parties propose extending that deadline by
approximately thirteen weeks because a ten-week extension would require the parties to conduct
virtually all of the depositions in August, which is unrealistic given the witnesses’ and the
attorneys’ vacation schedules.
11. At this time, the parties have exchanged document requests, served subpoenas on
third-parties, and begun producing responsive documents. The parties are in compliance with
existing deadlines in the March 2, 2021 Preliminary Conference Order.
Dated: May 26, 2021
_____________________________
Evan Mandel
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FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 05/26/2021 05:03 PM INDEX NO. 657193/2020
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 123 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 05/26/2021
CERTIFICATION
Counsel for Plaintiff hereby certifies that this document complies with the word count
limit of Commercial Division Rule 17. This affirmation was prepared using Microsoft Word,
and the total number of words in this affidavit, exclusive of the caption, table of contents, table
of authorities, and signature block is less than 7,000 words.
Dated: New York, New York
May 26, 2021
_____________________________
Evan Mandel
4
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Preview
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 05/26/2021 05:03 PM INDEX NO. 657193/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 123 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 05/26/2021 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COMMERCIAL DIVISION, NEW YORK COUNTY -------------------------------------- x YASEMIN TEKINER, : : in her individual capacity, as a beneficiary and a : Trustee of The Yasemin Tekiner 2011 : Descendants Trust and derivatively as a holder : of equitable interests in a shareholder or a : member of the Company Defendants, : : Plaintiff, : : Index No. 657193/20 - against – : : BREMEN HOUSE INC., BREMEN HOUSE TEXAS, : INC., GERMAN NEWS COMPANY, INC., GERMAN : NEWS TEXAS, INC., 254 - 258 W. 35TH ST. LLC, : BERRIN TEKINER, GONCA TEKINER, and : BILLUR AKIPEK, in her capacity as a Trustee of : The Yasemin Tekiner 2011 Descendants Trust, : : Defendants. : -------------------------------------- X Affirmation of Evan Mandel EVAN MANDEL, being duly sworn, pursuant to C.P.L.R. § 2106, hereby affirms the following to be true and correct under penalty of perjury: 1. I am an attorney duly admitted to practice before the courts of the State of New York and am a member of the firm Mandel Bhandari LLP, located at 80 Pine Street, New York, New York, 10005, counsel to Plaintiff Yasemin Tekiner (“Plaintiff” or “Yasemin”) in this action. I am fully familiar with the facts and circumstances of this action by virtue of my personal involvement as Plaintiff’s counsel and a review of the case files. I respectfully submit this affirmation in support of Plaintiff’s Order To Show Cause To Extend the Case Schedule (the “OSC”). 1 of 4 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 05/26/2021 05:03 PM INDEX NO. 657193/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 123 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 05/26/2021 2. Although this Order To Show Cause is being filed by Plaintiff, it is supported by all parties to this action. 3. The OSC seeks to extend virtually all of the deadlines in this action by approximately ten weeks because the parties spent approximately ten weeks working (unfortunately unsuccessfully) to settle the case. Attached as exhibit A is a chart that shows the current deadlines set forth in the March 2, 2021 Preliminary Conference Order as well as the proposed extended deadlines. 4. On March 2, the very same day of the Preliminary Conference, the parties agreed to mediate the case. As the Court is aware, this is a dispute among family members about a family business, and all parties wanted to settle the case if it was possible to do so. 5. On March 2, the parties began identifying a mediator and scheduling the mediation. The parties proceeded to identify those documents that would need to be produced in order to have a meaningful settlement discussion and then searched for and produced the relevant documents. They decided to mediate the case before JAMS and drafted and exchanged mediation statements. 6. On April 14, 2021, the parties attended an all-day mediation session that lasted well into the evening. All parties agreed that resolution of the case involved tax and trusts and estate issues that could not be resolved in a single day and, as a result, everyone agreed to continue the mediation. 7. After the initial mediation session, the parties continued to make complex written settlement offers. In order to understand these offers and potential alternative settlement strategies, the parties attended numerous telephone calls with the mediator. 2 2 of 4 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 05/26/2021 05:03 PM INDEX NO. 657193/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 123 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 05/26/2021 8. Ultimately, the parties agreed to attend a second all-day mediation session, which was ultimately scheduled and held on May 7, 2021. Although the May 7 session did not lead to a settlement, after the session, the parties continued to negotiate a potential settlement with the mediator and continued to identify potential settlement structures. 9. Unfortunately, these substantial efforts that began in early March and ended in mid-May did not lead to a settlement. As a result, the parties respectfully request an extension of the case deadlines. 10. The parties seek to extend virtually all of the deadlines by approximately ten weeks, the amount of time that the parties were attempting to settle this complicated case. The one notable exception is the deposition deadline: the parties propose extending that deadline by approximately thirteen weeks because a ten-week extension would require the parties to conduct virtually all of the depositions in August, which is unrealistic given the witnesses’ and the attorneys’ vacation schedules. 11. At this time, the parties have exchanged document requests, served subpoenas on third-parties, and begun producing responsive documents. The parties are in compliance with existing deadlines in the March 2, 2021 Preliminary Conference Order. Dated: May 26, 2021 _____________________________ Evan Mandel 3 3 of 4 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 05/26/2021 05:03 PM INDEX NO. 657193/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 123 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 05/26/2021 CERTIFICATION Counsel for Plaintiff hereby certifies that this document complies with the word count limit of Commercial Division Rule 17. This affirmation was prepared using Microsoft Word, and the total number of words in this affidavit, exclusive of the caption, table of contents, table of authorities, and signature block is less than 7,000 words. Dated: New York, New York May 26, 2021 _____________________________ Evan Mandel 4 4 of 4