REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

LISA MARGARET SMITH, Magistrate Judge.

TO: THE HONORABLE KENNETH M. KARAS, U.S.D.J.

On December 13, 2019, I issued an Order to Show Cause requiring the parties to show cause no later than January 10, 2020, why this matter should not be transferred to the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. Docket #31. No party has made a submission in response to that Order to Show Cause. During a conference with the parties today I was informed that a stipulation agreeing to a change of venue to the District of Delaware had been circulated among counsel but that Plaintiff's counsel desired to incorporate a 60 day stay to allow Plaintiff to retain new counsel in the District of Delaware, and thus was not willing to sign the stipulation as it was presented. No reason was given to justify not transferring this matter to the District of Delaware. For the reasons set forth below, I respectfully recommend to Your Honor that you hold discovery in abeyance and transfer this case to the District of Delaware.

Plaintiffs brought this action on July 2, 20191. Docket #3. The Complaint asserts that there is complete diversity between Plaintiffs and Defendants, and alleges that Plaintiffs suffered serious injuries as a result of a motor vehicle accident which occurred on July 1, 2017. Id. The Complaint further asserts that "Venue herein is proper for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York[.]" Id. at p. 2, ¶4. Counter Claims and Cross Claims were brought thereafter. Docket ##14, 15, 20. On November 20, 2019, an initial conference was held before Your Honor. The issue of venue was not discussed at that time.

The Complaint does not identify the location of the motor vehicle accident in question. However, Plaintiffs' Rule 26 disclosure, Docket ##32, 33, identifies the location as New Castle, Delaware. Plaintiffs are residents of New York; Defendants are residents of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Pursuant to the applicable rule governing venue, the appropriate venue is either (a) a judicial district in which a defendant resides; or (b) a judicial district in which a substantial part of the events giving rise to the claim occurred. 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b).2 The Southern District of New York satisfies neither of these venue requirements. Rather, the events in question took place in the District of Delaware; it is alleged that one of the Defendants, Miles J. Russell, resides in the District of Delaware; it is alleged that Defendant Michelle Condo resides in the District of New Jersey; and it is alleged that Defendant David Renneisen resides in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Thus, venue would be proper in the District of Delaware, the District of New Jersey, or the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Venue is not proper in the Southern District of New York.

Counsel have informed the undersigned that there is a companion case filed in state court in Delaware. Because the event in question took place in Delaware, one Defendant allegedly lives in Delaware, and a companion case has been filed there, I conclude, and respectfully recommend that Your Honor should conclude, that this case should be transferred to the District of Delaware, on the grounds that the Southern District of New York has no venue over the action.

NOTICE

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), as amended, and Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b), the parties shall have fourteen (14) days, plus an additional three (3) days, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(d), or a total of seventeen (17) days, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a), from the date hereof, to file written objections to this Report and Recommendation. Such objections, if any, shall be filed with the Clerk of the Court with extra copies delivered to the chambers of The Honorable Kenneth M. Karas at the United States Courthouse, 300 Quarropas Street, White Plains, New York 10601, and to the chambers of the undersigned at the same address.

Failure to file timely objections to this Report and Recommendation will preclude later appellate review of any order of judgment that will be entered.

Requests for extensions of time to file objections must be made to Judge Karas and should not be made to the undersigned.