Summary Judgment Win in Cryptocurrency Case
September 29, 2023Attorneys Sarah Smeriglio and Marc Miller successfully obtained summary judgment and dismissal on 14 counts in favor of their client in a dispute in Stamford Superior Court.
The Plaintiff claimed $3,000,000 in damages resulting from a breach of contract for the purchase of a cryptocurrency mining operation. Specifically, Plaintiff claimed the client fraudulently withheld valuable information in arranging the transaction at issue.
Given the Plaintiff’s vague assertion of the date of alleged fraud, Attorney Smeriglio argued that Plaintiff’s claims were time barred by the applicable three-year statutory period. The Plaintiff raised several arguments in opposition, including submitting an affidavit claiming that the client had purposely hidden a commission during the transaction which would extend the three-year statute of limitation.
Most important to the case, Attorney Smeriglio introduced a pivotal piece of evidence: a text exchange between the Plaintiff and the client as credible proof that the Plaintiff was aware of the commission payment, thus undermining the Plaintiff’s affidavit. The court rejected the Plaintiff’s argument, reasoning that the text message demonstrated the Plaintiff knew about the commission months prior than the Plaintiff’s affidavit suggested. Consequently, the court reinforced that the date of the alleged wrongful act was established by NPM and found the Plaintiff’s action was outside the statutory time period, securing NPM’s Summary Judgment on the matter.
Sarah Smeriglio is a member the firm’s Healthcare Law and Professional Malpractice & Insurance Defense practice groups. She joined the firm first as a legal extern assisting in the firm’s healthcare practice.
Marc T. Miller, an attorney and a principal at Neubert Pepe & Monteith, P.C. practices in the areas of real estate and commercial law, and related litigation. An experienced practitioner, Attorney Miller represents small to mid-sized companies and their stakeholders and prides himself on providing a unique vision towards problem solving. His clients represent diverse industry areas including alternative energy, construction, commercial lending, and real estate investment companies.