Ex parte Robert Przybysz

Defendants Robert Przybysz, Ingenuity International, LLC ("Ingenuity"), David Byker, and Global Asset Management Holdings, LLC ("GAM"), filed two petitions for a writ of mandamus. Both petitions sought a writ ordering the Jefferson Circuit Court to vacate the portion of its order requiring Przybysz, Byker, and GAM to dismiss an action they filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama against Nannette Smith alleging breach of a settlement agreement between the parties. Smith and B2K Systems, Inc. ("B2K Inc."), filed an action against the defendants and B2K Systems, LLC ("B2K LLC"), asserting various claims, and, at some point, GAM filed an action against B2K LLC. The two cases were consolidated. After years of litigation, the parties entered into a settlement agreement, settling both cases. As part of the settlement agreement, Byker and/or GAM were to make an initial payment to Smith and then additional payments over a 30-month period. In exchange, Smith agreed to provide a business asset, which was the object of the underlying litigation, to the defendants. Because the settlement agreement required payments to be made over a 30- month period, the circuit court did not enter a final judgment on the settlement agreement, but placed the case on its administrative docket with the intention of leaving it there until the payments to Smith were satisfied. There was no indication that a final judgment has been entered in the underlying cases. Przybysz, Byker, and GAM sued Smith in the federal district court asserting various claims based on Smith's alleged breach of the settlement agreement. The Alabama Supreme Court agreed with defendants: the circuit court did not have the authority to order Przybysz, Byker, and GAM to dismiss their federal action against Smith; the defendants demonstrated a clear legal right to the relief they sought. View "Ex parte Robert Przybysz" on Justia Law