Communication Regarding Issue That is Not in Dispute is Not Protected by the Settlement Communication Privilege

On April 30, 2022, Justice Masley of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Satterfield v. VStock Transfer, LLC, 2022 NY Slip Op. 31446(U), holding that an e-mail regarding an issue that was not in dispute was not protected by the CPLR 4547 settlement communication privilege, explaining:

On January 6, 2022, counsel to defendants emailed plaintiff threatening to file for bankruptcy and offered to comply with the court’s Prior Order by transferring the VStock Shares without delay to plaintiff in exchange for defendants keeping the Dolfin Shares. CPLR 4547, the provision governing the admissibility of compromise and offers to compromise, states that evidence of (a) furnishing, or offering or promising to furnish, or (b) accepting, or offering or promising to accept, any valuable consideration in compromising or attempting to compromise a claim which is disputed as to either validity or amount of damages, shall be inadmissible as proof of liability for or invalidity of the claim or the amount of damages. Critically, the language of CPLR 4547 imposes the requirement that the claim must be in dispute, as to validity or amount of damages. A settlement negotiation or offer to settle a claim that is not disputed, either as to its validity or amount of damages, is thus admissible. Here, the claim is unequivocally not in dispute because of the parties’ Stipulation, AAA Panel’s Final Award, and this court’s Prior Order. The email is admissible. The mere inclusion of the words “settlement negotiation,” or variations thereof, do not make it an offer to compromise barred by CPLR 4547. Here, it matters not that defendants’ counsel included a disclaimer at the bottom of his email which stated in part: “This correspondence is directly related to settlement negotiations and, as such, any and all information contained herein is protected.” The inclusion of this superfluous disclaimer is ineffective and contrary to law.

(Internal quotations and citations omitted).

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