Preview
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/03/2020 03:41 PM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 18 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/03/2020
EXHIBIT I
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/03/2020 03:41 PM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 18 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/03/2020
Timothy Brennan
From: Crain, Jon
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2020 9:15 AM
To: Timothy Brennan
Subject: RE: Good Faith Letter- Issues
Outstanding
Attachments: addendum
Tim:
Hope allis well and you are finding some time to enjoy the summer weather with the family. RespGading to your
inquiries:
1. As I specified previously, no documents have been withheld on the basis of privilege.
Defendants'
2. No. 8 and 21in Second Set of Demands (Lu Holding documents). We will be producing documents
responsive to demand No. 8 shortly, via a separate letterwith a linkto an FTP site where the documents willbe
available for dews;üad. There are no documents responsive to Demand No. 21 with respect to Lu Holding.
Defendants' (Iris'
3. Nos. 11, 12 in Second Set of Demands tax documents). As I mentioned below, there are no
Iris'
W2s for work managing the properties. She did that work in exchange for ownership of the properties, and
did not receive any salary or wages. With respect to her annual tax filings,we stand by our objection. Your
clients have refused to produce any tax documents whatsoever, despite several requests. We can only produce
tax docüraêñts ifagreement can be reached for production of tax documents for allparties. As I said in our
original objection over a.year ago, Plaintiffsare willing to reach such agreement. Itis your clientswho have
refused. The parties were sharing and exchanging money (not to mention titleto the properties) throughout the
relevant time periods, and there are competing claims to ownership of those monies and concerning how those
parties'
monies were reported. tris'stax documents are not any more relevant than the other tax documents.
4. Nos. 12 and 13 (LW Management documents). As mentioned above, Plaintiffs are only willing to produce tax
documents ifDefendants agree to produce the same. I don't believe Plaintiffshave any documents responsive to
Demand No. 13, but Irisischecking and we willproduce any such documents by the end of the week (ifthey
exist).
S. I sent you the metadata for the lease addendum, showing when itwas created, in February 2019. I reattached
that email for your coavêñiênce. I willbe forwarding the PDF document, with metadata, as requested.
6. Citizens Banks records. I believe these were previously produced, but we are checking and, ifthey were not, I
willinclude the FTP sitecoming your way.
I am plaññing on filing note of issue on or before June 30. Please let me know ifyou have any objection and/or want to
seek another extension of the deadline.
Jon
Jon Crain | Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP
One Commerce Plaza | Albany | New York | 12260
| o | 518.487.7672 | f|518.487.7777
| e[ JCrain@wob.com l w | www.woh.com
This email, and any attachment hereto, isintended only for use by the addressee(s) named in this email and may contain
legallypriviiêged and/or confidential information. Ifyou are not the intended recipient of this email, you are hereby
notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of thisemail, or any attachment to it,isstrictly prohibited. ifyou
have received thisemail in error, please immediately notify me at (518) 487-7600 and permanently delete the original
and any copy or printout of the email. Thank you.
1
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/03/2020 03:41 PM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 18 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/03/2020
From: Timothy Brennan
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2020 10:21 AM
To: Crain, Jon
Subject: RE: Good Faith Letter- Issues
Outstanding
Jon:
I am following up on this. Also, itappears that I never received the records from the alleged Citizen's Bank transaction
tris'
wherein your client accuses Wen Ying of impersonating her. Please refer to pages 295-305 of depüsition.
Thanks in advance.
Tim
Timothy S. Brennan, Esq.
Partner
PHELAN, PHFJ AN
&DANEK, I J P
300 Great Oaks Boulevard, Suite 315
Albany, New York 12203
Phone: 518-640-6900
Fax: 518-640-6955
Email: tim@ppdlawfirm.com
BEST
LAW RRMS
supert,awyers.com
Phelan Phelan & Danek remains open and fully operational with allstaff and atterñeys working remotely. In lightof the
government's recent shelter in place orders, we will be serving alldocuments via email only. Please be advised that we
also request that senders do the same and sen e documents via email only, foregoing regular mail. We request that all
legal correspondence, discovery, motions and pleadings, be electronically served via email, as well as any other
documents until further notice. Thank you.
This electronic message contains information that may be privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from
disclosure. The information contained herein isintended for the addressee only. ifyou are not the addressee, any
disclosure, copying, distribution or use ofthe contents of this message (including any attachments) is prohibited. Ifyou
have received thiselectronic message in error,please notify the sender immediately and destroy the original message
and allcopies.
From: Crain, Jon
Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2020 3:57 PM
To: Timothy Brennan
Subject: RE: Good Faith Letter- Issues
Outstanding
Thanks Tim. l'll
look into these issues and get back to you as soon as passible. I still
need to review your responses and
determine ifyour clients have --l'lldo at next week. I don't
anything outstanding everything once, probably early
anticipate issues on either end. references to privilege was boilerplate - we haven't withheld on the
any My anything
2
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/03/2020 03:41 PM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 18 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/03/2020
basis of privilege. No need to send a new demand for the Lu Holding documents, Iriswas never paid or took a salary, so I
don't anticipate there will be any responsive tax documents, but I'll
confirra.
The note of issue deadline has been extended to June 30, pursuant to the automatic 90-day extension of alldeadlines
issued by the Chief Judge. Nonetheless, I would like to get itfiledwithin the next two weeks so we can move thisaction
forward. There have been a lot of recent developments with this matter, and it'sgoing to take me a few days to get
through everything.
Can you also send over a stipof discontinuance for Schenectady?
Doing well, taking itday-by-day. Hope you're staying safe and sane.
From: Timothy Brennan
Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 20203:45 PM
To: Crain, Jon
Subject: Good Faith Letter- Issues
Outstanding
Jon:
Upon review of my file,itappears that there are a few remaining issues with respect to discovery that we need to
complete. In particular,there are several remaining open issues with respect to the Second Demand for Production. At
documents"
the outset, I note that in several of your responses you indicate that "any non-privileged will be
produced. In each such instance, you failto identify any specificapplicable privilege or whether any document has
actually been withheld in response to the demand. Please be advised that this isimproper. Ifany document has been
withheld in response to any of my client'sdemands pursuant to a privilege, the privilege must be specifically
identified. Further, a privilege log must be produced indicating that documents were, in fact,withheld in response to
the demand and generally describing the nature of the document. Accordingly, ifany document was withheld in
response to any demand based upon privilege, I must insist on a privilege log.
Next, I notethat you failed to produce various documents with respect to Lu Holdings, LLC. The basis for your refusal to
produce these documents was that the entity was inadvertently named as "Lu Family llaldings, LLC". Please produce
the documents requested relative to Lu Ho|dings, LLC prior to filingthe Note of issue. While I acknowledge the
typographical error, I trustthat you will be willing to produce the documents relative to the proper entity, a party inthis
LLC"
litigation.To be sure, your client herself even referred to the entity as the "Lu Family Holdings, ather deposition
(see page 198). In particular, 1 am seeking the documents responsive for Lu Holdings, LLC in response to paragraphs 8
Defendants'
and 21 of Second Demand for Discovery and Inspection. Ifyou require a new demand, please letme know.
Next, you have objected to production of Wen Mei Lu's tax documents in response to paragraphs 11and 12 of the
Second Demand for Production. In addition, I note that I demanded any W-2's or documents demonstrating payment
for management services performed by your clients. You have refused to produce these documents citing my refusal to
produce my client'stax documents in response to your demands. There isa central and fundamental difference
between the two situations. Your client has contended that she was managing the property based upon a promise of an
ownership interest in the property. She seeks an equitable remedy in thisaction based upon this promise to allegedly
make her whole. Obviously, ifshe was being paid a salary for her efforts that would stand in stark contrast to her
position and would be highly relevant. As such, I demand a response to paragraphs 11and 12 of the Second Demand for
Production. Similarly, I am seeking a response to the demands regarding LW Mana gement at paragraphs 12 and 13 of
the Second Demand for Production.
Finally,I note that I am stillawaiting the metadata from the Lease extension on the Duo lease.
Feel free to give me a callifyou wish to discuss this matter further. I hope that you are staying well with allthat isgoing
on.
3
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/03/2020 03:41 PM INDEX NO. 20162946
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 18 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/03/2020
Thank you,
Tim
Timothy S. Brennan, Esq.
Partner
PHELAN, PHELAN
&DANEK,LLP
300 Great Oaks Boulevard, Suite 315
Albany, New York 12203
Phone: 518-640-6900
Fax: 518-640-6955
Email: tim@ ppdlawfirm.com
BEST
LAW ARMS
SuperLawyers.com
4
Preview
FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/03/2020 03:41 PM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 18 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/03/2020 EXHIBIT I FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/03/2020 03:41 PM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 18 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/03/2020 Timothy Brennan From: Crain, Jon Sent: Monday, June 29, 2020 9:15 AM To: Timothy Brennan Subject: RE: Good Faith Letter- Issues Outstanding Attachments: addendum Tim: Hope allis well and you are finding some time to enjoy the summer weather with the family. RespGading to your inquiries: 1. As I specified previously, no documents have been withheld on the basis of privilege. Defendants' 2. No. 8 and 21in Second Set of Demands (Lu Holding documents). We will be producing documents responsive to demand No. 8 shortly, via a separate letterwith a linkto an FTP site where the documents willbe available for dews;üad. There are no documents responsive to Demand No. 21 with respect to Lu Holding. Defendants' (Iris' 3. Nos. 11, 12 in Second Set of Demands tax documents). As I mentioned below, there are no Iris' W2s for work managing the properties. She did that work in exchange for ownership of the properties, and did not receive any salary or wages. With respect to her annual tax filings,we stand by our objection. Your clients have refused to produce any tax documents whatsoever, despite several requests. We can only produce tax docüraêñts ifagreement can be reached for production of tax documents for allparties. As I said in our original objection over a.year ago, Plaintiffsare willing to reach such agreement. Itis your clientswho have refused. The parties were sharing and exchanging money (not to mention titleto the properties) throughout the relevant time periods, and there are competing claims to ownership of those monies and concerning how those parties' monies were reported. tris'stax documents are not any more relevant than the other tax documents. 4. Nos. 12 and 13 (LW Management documents). As mentioned above, Plaintiffs are only willing to produce tax documents ifDefendants agree to produce the same. I don't believe Plaintiffshave any documents responsive to Demand No. 13, but Irisischecking and we willproduce any such documents by the end of the week (ifthey exist). S. I sent you the metadata for the lease addendum, showing when itwas created, in February 2019. I reattached that email for your coavêñiênce. I willbe forwarding the PDF document, with metadata, as requested. 6. Citizens Banks records. I believe these were previously produced, but we are checking and, ifthey were not, I willinclude the FTP sitecoming your way. I am plaññing on filing note of issue on or before June 30. Please let me know ifyou have any objection and/or want to seek another extension of the deadline. Jon Jon Crain | Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP One Commerce Plaza | Albany | New York | 12260 | o | 518.487.7672 | f|518.487.7777 | e[ JCrain@wob.com l w | www.woh.com This email, and any attachment hereto, isintended only for use by the addressee(s) named in this email and may contain legallypriviiêged and/or confidential information. Ifyou are not the intended recipient of this email, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of thisemail, or any attachment to it,isstrictly prohibited. ifyou have received thisemail in error, please immediately notify me at (518) 487-7600 and permanently delete the original and any copy or printout of the email. Thank you. 1 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/03/2020 03:41 PM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 18 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/03/2020 From: Timothy Brennan Sent: Friday, June 12, 2020 10:21 AM To: Crain, Jon Subject: RE: Good Faith Letter- Issues Outstanding Jon: I am following up on this. Also, itappears that I never received the records from the alleged Citizen's Bank transaction tris' wherein your client accuses Wen Ying of impersonating her. Please refer to pages 295-305 of depüsition. Thanks in advance. Tim Timothy S. Brennan, Esq. Partner PHELAN, PHFJ AN &DANEK, I J P 300 Great Oaks Boulevard, Suite 315 Albany, New York 12203 Phone: 518-640-6900 Fax: 518-640-6955 Email: tim@ppdlawfirm.com BEST LAW RRMS supert,awyers.com Phelan Phelan & Danek remains open and fully operational with allstaff and atterñeys working remotely. In lightof the government's recent shelter in place orders, we will be serving alldocuments via email only. Please be advised that we also request that senders do the same and sen e documents via email only, foregoing regular mail. We request that all legal correspondence, discovery, motions and pleadings, be electronically served via email, as well as any other documents until further notice. Thank you. This electronic message contains information that may be privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. The information contained herein isintended for the addressee only. ifyou are not the addressee, any disclosure, copying, distribution or use ofthe contents of this message (including any attachments) is prohibited. Ifyou have received thiselectronic message in error,please notify the sender immediately and destroy the original message and allcopies. From: Crain, Jon Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2020 3:57 PM To: Timothy Brennan Subject: RE: Good Faith Letter- Issues Outstanding Thanks Tim. l'll look into these issues and get back to you as soon as passible. I still need to review your responses and determine ifyour clients have --l'lldo at next week. I don't anything outstanding everything once, probably early anticipate issues on either end. references to privilege was boilerplate - we haven't withheld on the any My anything 2 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/03/2020 03:41 PM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 18 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/03/2020 basis of privilege. No need to send a new demand for the Lu Holding documents, Iriswas never paid or took a salary, so I don't anticipate there will be any responsive tax documents, but I'll confirra. The note of issue deadline has been extended to June 30, pursuant to the automatic 90-day extension of alldeadlines issued by the Chief Judge. Nonetheless, I would like to get itfiledwithin the next two weeks so we can move thisaction forward. There have been a lot of recent developments with this matter, and it'sgoing to take me a few days to get through everything. Can you also send over a stipof discontinuance for Schenectady? Doing well, taking itday-by-day. Hope you're staying safe and sane. From: Timothy Brennan Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 20203:45 PM To: Crain, Jon Subject: Good Faith Letter- Issues Outstanding Jon: Upon review of my file,itappears that there are a few remaining issues with respect to discovery that we need to complete. In particular,there are several remaining open issues with respect to the Second Demand for Production. At documents" the outset, I note that in several of your responses you indicate that "any non-privileged will be produced. In each such instance, you failto identify any specificapplicable privilege or whether any document has actually been withheld in response to the demand. Please be advised that this isimproper. Ifany document has been withheld in response to any of my client'sdemands pursuant to a privilege, the privilege must be specifically identified. Further, a privilege log must be produced indicating that documents were, in fact,withheld in response to the demand and generally describing the nature of the document. Accordingly, ifany document was withheld in response to any demand based upon privilege, I must insist on a privilege log. Next, I notethat you failed to produce various documents with respect to Lu Holdings, LLC. The basis for your refusal to produce these documents was that the entity was inadvertently named as "Lu Family llaldings, LLC". Please produce the documents requested relative to Lu Ho|dings, LLC prior to filingthe Note of issue. While I acknowledge the typographical error, I trustthat you will be willing to produce the documents relative to the proper entity, a party inthis LLC" litigation.To be sure, your client herself even referred to the entity as the "Lu Family Holdings, ather deposition (see page 198). In particular, 1 am seeking the documents responsive for Lu Holdings, LLC in response to paragraphs 8 Defendants' and 21 of Second Demand for Discovery and Inspection. Ifyou require a new demand, please letme know. Next, you have objected to production of Wen Mei Lu's tax documents in response to paragraphs 11and 12 of the Second Demand for Production. In addition, I note that I demanded any W-2's or documents demonstrating payment for management services performed by your clients. You have refused to produce these documents citing my refusal to produce my client'stax documents in response to your demands. There isa central and fundamental difference between the two situations. Your client has contended that she was managing the property based upon a promise of an ownership interest in the property. She seeks an equitable remedy in thisaction based upon this promise to allegedly make her whole. Obviously, ifshe was being paid a salary for her efforts that would stand in stark contrast to her position and would be highly relevant. As such, I demand a response to paragraphs 11and 12 of the Second Demand for Production. Similarly, I am seeking a response to the demands regarding LW Mana gement at paragraphs 12 and 13 of the Second Demand for Production. Finally,I note that I am stillawaiting the metadata from the Lease extension on the Duo lease. Feel free to give me a callifyou wish to discuss this matter further. I hope that you are staying well with allthat isgoing on. 3 FILED: SARATOGA COUNTY CLERK 08/03/2020 03:41 PM INDEX NO. 20162946 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 18 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/03/2020 Thank you, Tim Timothy S. Brennan, Esq. Partner PHELAN, PHELAN &DANEK,LLP 300 Great Oaks Boulevard, Suite 315 Albany, New York 12203 Phone: 518-640-6900 Fax: 518-640-6955 Email: tim@ ppdlawfirm.com BEST LAW ARMS SuperLawyers.com 4