SDNY COURTHOUSE, July 6 – Alleging usurious loans under New York State law, Jayaveerapandian Shunmugavel has sued Selvam Balasubramaniam, calling him a "ruthless loan shark."
On July 6, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge P. Kevin Castel held a proceeding. Inner City Press covered it.
Discovery was discussed, including remote deposition at which Judge Castel proposed that documents sent by FedEx would be kept sealed until the questioning itself.
One of the lawyers laughed, saying he had recently faced an adversary who demanded to see such documents three days before the deposition Q&A. He asked if the SDNY courthouse would be used to conduct depositions.
That might happen in the New York State courthouses, Judge Castel replied, but not here.
Many of the issues in the case come down to choice of law: the interest rates cited, 70%, are usury in New York but perhaps not elsewhere.
So Judge Castel asked for filings on this issue, while encouraging the parties to try to settle.
He proposed referring the matter to the mediation program, saying he would so order it and consider reversing that if he heard again from the parties.
The case is Shunmugavel v. Balasubramaniam, 20-cv-957 (Castel)
