Main
Date: 21 Nov 2007 15:06:44
From: samsloan
Subject: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
PROSKAUER ROSE LLP
A NEW YORK LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP vin M. Goldstein, Managing
Resident Partner

One Newark Center Newark, NJ 07102-5211 Telephone 973.274.3200 or
212.736.8185 Fax 973.274.3299
BOCA BATON BOSTON LONDON
LOS ANGELES NEW ORLEANS NEW YORK PARIS
SAO PAULO WASHINGTON
Jeremy M. Brown Senior Counsel

Direct Dial 973.274.3205 [email protected]
November 19, 2007
By Facsimile (with permission) and Regular Mail
The Honorable Denny Chin, U.S.D.J.
United States District Court, Southern District of New York United
States Courthouse

500 Pearl Street, Room 1020

New York, New York 10007
Re: Sloan v. Truong, et al.
Civil Action No.: 07 CV 8537 (DC)
Dear Judge Chin:
This law firm is counsel to defendants The United States Chess
Federation, Hoainhan Truong, Zsuzsanna Polger, Joel Charming, William
Goichberg, Bill Hall, Randall Hough, Randy Bauer and Jim Berry
(collectively "Defendants")1 in the above-referenced matter.
Defendants submit this letter pursuant to Your Honor's Individual
Practice Rule 2A and respectfully request the scheduling of a pre-
motion conference to address an anticipated motion to dismiss
plaintiff Sam Sloan's (pro se) Complaint. Defendants seek permission
to file a motion to dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint pursuant to Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(2) because there is no
basis for subject matter and personal jurisdiction. Specifically,
Plaintiff has failed to: (i) establish complete diversity between the
parties in order to maintain jurisdiction in this Court; (ii)
articulate a federal question sufficient to sustain jurisdiction; and
(iii) personal jurisdiction is improper because Plaintiff cannot
establish sufficient contacts between the Defendants and the :forum
state.

Under 28 U.S.C. =A7 1332(a), this Court has original subject matter
jurisdiction over all claims where the action is between "citizens of
a State and citizens or subjects of a foreign state." See Caterpillar
Inc. v. Lewis, 519 U.S. 61, 67-68 (1996); Gushing v. Moore, 970 F.2d
1103, 1106 (2d Cir. 1992). Both Plaintiff and individual defendant
William Goichberg ("Goichberg) are citizens of the State of New York.
Defendant Goichberg resides in Salisbury Mills, New York.
1 Defendant Herbert Rodney Vaughn was not served with the Complaint
and defendants Gregory Alexander and Grant Perks were served
improperly. While this firm represents Messrs. Vaughn, Alexander and
Perks, they are not appearing in this matter (although the grounds for
dismissal would be identical to the anticipated motion).
2 Defendant Goichberg will submit an affidavit stating that he is a
New York State resident.

PROSKAUER ROSE LLP
The Honorable Denny Chin, U.S.D.J. November 19, 2007 Page 2

Accordingly, the Court does not have diversity jurisdiction over this
action and Plaintiff's Complaint must be dismissed.

Under 28 U.S.C. =A7 1331, federal courts have original jurisdiction over
cases "arising under" federal law. The only federal statute
specifically identified by Plaintiff in his Complaint is the
Communications Decency Act ("CDA"), 47 U.S.C. =A7 223(h)(1) (Compl. =B6
3.) However, the CDA is a criminal statute, which does not provide
federal jurisdiction over a civil lawsuit for money damages. See Moore
v. New York City Bd. of Educ., No. 01 Civ. 0908 (RWS), 2001 U.S. Dist.
LEXIS 9955, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. July 18, 2001). Plaintiff also references
that jurisdiction is based on "election fraud." (Compl. =B6 2.) Election
fraud is generally prohibited under the Federal Election Campaign Act
("FECA"), 2 U.S.C. =A7 431, et seq., and the Voting Rights Act ("VRA"),
42 U.S.C. =A7 1973, et seq. Neither act permits an individual to bring a
civil lawsuit in federal court. Furthermore, Plaintiff alleges that
federal jurisdiction is based on "the constitution and laws of the
United States" (Compl. 112). However, this is insufficient to sustain
a Complaint. See Sip fle v. Cortland Country Club, Inc., No. 5:04-
CV-565 (NAM/GHL), 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27625, at *2, 5 (N.D.N.Y. Nov.
4, 2005). Accordingly, Plaintiff has failed to present a federal
question and this Court should dismiss his Complaint for lack of
subject matter jurisdiction.

Lastly, there is no personal jurisdiction because Plaintiff cannot
establish sufficient contacts between the Defendants and the forum
state. Plaintiff's allegations that certain defendants posted
allegedly defamatory statements about him on chess web-sites, thereby
preventing him from winning election to the Executive Board of The
U.S. Chess Federation (Compl. =B6n 3-9), are insufficient as a matter of
law to establish personal jurisdiction over any of the defendants in
New York.3 Allegedly defamatory postings on web-sites, which may be
read by individuals in New York, are not sufficient to establish
personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant. See Best Van
Lines, Inc. v. Walker, 490 F.3d 239, 250-51 (2d Cir. 2007) (finding
that posting defamatory material on a web-site accessible in New York
was not sufficient to constitute "transacting business" in New York).
Accordingly, there is no personal jurisdiction over defendants and
this matter should be dismissed.
Respectfully submitted,
3 This argument does not apply to defendant Goichberg, who is a New
York State resident.
Jeremy C.Brown

cc: Sam Sloan (pro se) (via regular mail) Anthony M. Handler, Esq.
(via regular mail) Patrick M. O'Brien, Esq. (via regular mail) Scot M.
Graydon, Esq. (via regular mail)

http://www.samsloan.com/proskauer.pdf




 
Date: 23 Nov 2007 13:11:29
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
I ask that the readers of this forum not bother or in any way harass
the attorney who is representing the USCF in this suit.

He is not our enemy and he could be our best friend.

Somebody needs to start telling the members of the Executive Board of
the USCF that they need to start obeying the law for a change. Perhaps
the attorney will do this. A little appreciated fact is that the USCF
does not have an attorney that they consult with on a regular basis.
When I was on the board, at every meeting I brought up the fact that
many of the things the board is doing are of questionable legality and
we need the advice of counsel. Every time, the board said that it did
not want to spend the money. In particular, I asked that counsel be
retained to determine our legal rights regarding the Crossville
Property. At one point, Joel Channing as VP of Finance said that he
would agree that the office seek the advice of counsel with a spending
limit of $500. (Five Hundred Dollars). However, a few minutes later
Mr. Channing changed his mind and decided that $500 was too much to
spend.

The lawyer now representing the USCF in Sloan vs. Truong is apparently
being paid by the insurance company with a $10,000 deductible. I am
hoping that once he finds out how unimaginably bad things really are
at the USCF, he will tell them to straighten out. Otherwise the USCF
and its members, meaning us, are ultimately responsible.

Sam Sloan


 
Date: 22 Nov 2007 12:50:06
From:
Subject: Re: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
On Nov 21, 6:17 pm, "B. Lafferty" <[email protected] > wrote:
> I find it interesting the PR is representing both the USCF and Mr. Truong.
> While Mr. Truong is a board member who would normally be represented by the
> USCF's insurance carrier, in this instance the allegations of wrongdoing go
> beyond the scope of his duties as a board member creating potential
> liability for the USCF. I'm not at all certain PR can represent both of them
> in this litigation. I would think this issue will be raised at some point in
> the proceedings.

Judge Brian and Sam,

I just left MR. Brown a voice message, the attorney for both the USCF
and Paul Troung. I am preparing an ethical complaint if he continues
to represent Mr. Troung and the USCF. I will not allow this attorney
to continue to allow
Mr. Troung to contine making these death threats and represent the
USCF, while the USCF
has a claim against MR. Troung. This position is unethical, and I will
complain to the judge.

Thank you for pointing this out, Sam Sloan,

cus Roberts


 
Date: 21 Nov 2007 21:32:18
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
On Nov 21, 9:45 pm, samsloan <[email protected] > wrote:
> On Nov 21, 8:55 pm, help bot <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Nov 21, 7:03 pm, samsloan <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > > > > This law firm is counsel to defendants The United States Chess
> > > > > Federation, Hoainhan Truong, Zsuzsanna Polger,
>
> > > > Zsuzanna Polger?
>
> > > Zsuzsanna is her actual legal name.
>
> > > Zsuzsa is a diminutive form of Zsuzsanna.
>
> > Thanks -- I never would have figured that out by myself.
>
> > Um... "Polger"?
>
> > > Susan is just a nickname Zsuzsanna Polger adopted when she immigrated
> > > to America.
>
> > Thanks again; it's amazing the things one can learn
> > from much ster people, like Mr. Sloan! Until now,
> > I suffered from the delusion that all "Susans" everywhere
> > used American English, and spelled their names the
> > same no matter where they lived or what language they
> > spoke. Silly me.
>
> > > I learned all this during the months I stayed in Zsuzsanna's apartment
> > > in Budapest in 1986.
>
> > Really? Ms. Pogar had her own apartment in Budapest?
> > How ever did she manage to pay the rent? Wait -- don't
> > tell me... by giving chess lessons?
>
> > -- help bot
>
> That was under Communist rule and rent was usually cheap, like five
> dollars a month.
>
> The disadvantage was you had to wait for years on a waiting list. You
> could not just pick out an apartment and move in.
>
> The exact apartment where I stayed and played chess with Zsuzsanna and
> her sisters, Sofia and Judit, in seen on the video, "My Brilliant
> Brain - Make Me a Genius"
>
> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6378985927858479238&q=Susan+...
>
> You can see the exact apartment and the exact room at 26:01 minutes
> into the video.
>
> Sam Sloan

Please note that in this video, Susan Polgar is called "The First
Woman Grandmaster" and Paul Truong is called "A Former US Champion".

At least Susan Polgar is a grandmaster, although not the first. Nona
Gaprindashvili was the first.

Since when did Paul Truong ever win the US Championship?

Sam Sloan


 
Date: 21 Nov 2007 21:03:04
From: help bot
Subject: Re: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
On Nov 21, 9:45 pm, samsloan <[email protected] > wrote:

> That was under Communist rule and rent was usually cheap, like five
> dollars a month.

You must mean /rupees/; the Commies used rupees,
/yuan/, and /pesos/, not /dollars/. Only fools would trust
a currency now backed by nothing more than empty
promises, instead of gold or silver. When I suggested
they adopt their own currency -- the /ruble/, after Barney
Rubble of Flintstones fame -- they looked at me like I
was /loonie/. /k/ my words, five dollars a month may
sound cheap now, but back then it was more than many
peons earned in a week.


> The disadvantage was you had to wait for years on a waiting list. You
> could not just pick out an apartment and move in.

You idiot! You were supposed to offer a bribe to
get closer to the top of the list. Do you really think
people can wait for years, living on the street through
the scorching Russian winters? That's the whole
point of such waiting lists; they are merely tools by
which the powerful suck money from the poor, who
don't really need it anyway, since so many of them
die from diseases and malnutrition.


> The exact apartment where I stayed and played chess with Zsuzsanna and
> her sisters, Sofia and Judit, in seen on the video, "My Brilliant
> Brain - Make Me a Genius"

Well, not every experiment can be expected to
be a huge success on the very first try. Perhaps
another attempt could be made, this time using
a brain ked "normal"? I'll send I-gor to fetch
it.


-- help bot


 
Date: 21 Nov 2007 18:45:27
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
On Nov 21, 8:55 pm, help bot <[email protected] > wrote:
> On Nov 21, 7:03 pm, samsloan <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > > > This law firm is counsel to defendants The United States Chess
> > > > Federation, Hoainhan Truong, Zsuzsanna Polger,
>
> > > Zsuzanna Polger?
>
> > Zsuzsanna is her actual legal name.
>
> > Zsuzsa is a diminutive form of Zsuzsanna.
>
> Thanks -- I never would have figured that out by myself.
>
> Um... "Polger"?
>
> > Susan is just a nickname Zsuzsanna Polger adopted when she immigrated
> > to America.
>
> Thanks again; it's amazing the things one can learn
> from much ster people, like Mr. Sloan! Until now,
> I suffered from the delusion that all "Susans" everywhere
> used American English, and spelled their names the
> same no matter where they lived or what language they
> spoke. Silly me.
>
> > I learned all this during the months I stayed in Zsuzsanna's apartment
> > in Budapest in 1986.
>
> Really? Ms. Pogar had her own apartment in Budapest?
> How ever did she manage to pay the rent? Wait -- don't
> tell me... by giving chess lessons?
>
> -- help bot

That was under Communist rule and rent was usually cheap, like five
dollars a month.

The disadvantage was you had to wait for years on a waiting list. You
could not just pick out an apartment and move in.

The exact apartment where I stayed and played chess with Zsuzsanna and
her sisters, Sofia and Judit, in seen on the video, "My Brilliant
Brain - Make Me a Genius"

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6378985927858479238&q=Susan+Polgar

You can see the exact apartment and the exact room at 26:01 minutes
into the video.

Sam Sloan


 
Date: 21 Nov 2007 18:27:30
From: artichoke
Subject: Re: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
On Nov 21, 7:17 pm, "B. Lafferty" <[email protected] > wrote:
> I find it interesting the PR is representing both the USCF and Mr. Truong.
> While Mr. Truong is a board member who would normally be represented by the
> USCF's insurance carrier, in this instance the allegations of wrongdoing go
> beyond the scope of his duties as a board member creating potential
> liability for the USCF. I'm not at all certain PR can represent both of them
> in this litigation. I would think this issue will be raised at some point in
> the proceedings.

They're representing everyone except for TTU, it seems. I'm not sure
I understand this liability issue, but if it exists with respect to
Truong, doesn't it also apply with respect to Alexander, Vaughn and
Perks?


 
Date: 21 Nov 2007 17:55:05
From: help bot
Subject: Re: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
On Nov 21, 7:03 pm, samsloan <[email protected] > wrote:

> > > This law firm is counsel to defendants The United States Chess
> > > Federation, Hoainhan Truong, Zsuzsanna Polger,
>
> > Zsuzanna Polger?
>
> Zsuzsanna is her actual legal name.
>
> Zsuzsa is a diminutive form of Zsuzsanna.

Thanks -- I never would have figured that out by myself.

Um... "Polger"?


> Susan is just a nickname Zsuzsanna Polger adopted when she immigrated
> to America.

Thanks again; it's amazing the things one can learn
from much ster people, like Mr. Sloan! Until now,
I suffered from the delusion that all "Susans" everywhere
used American English, and spelled their names the
same no matter where they lived or what language they
spoke. Silly me.


> I learned all this during the months I stayed in Zsuzsanna's apartment
> in Budapest in 1986.

Really? Ms. Pogar had her own apartment in Budapest?
How ever did she manage to pay the rent? Wait -- don't
tell me... by giving chess lessons?


-- help bot




 
Date: 21 Nov 2007 17:23:06
From:
Subject: Re: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
On Nov 21, 6:17 pm, "B. Lafferty" <[email protected] > wrote:
> I find it interesting the PR is representing both the USCF and Mr. Truong.
> While Mr. Truong is a board member who would normally be represented by the
> USCF's insurance carrier, in this instance the allegations of wrongdoing go
> beyond the scope of his duties as a board member creating potential
> liability for the USCF. I'm not at all certain PR can represent both of them
> in this litigation. I would think this issue will be raised at some point in
> the proceedings.

I am filing an ethical complaint against the above attorney.

cus Roberts


 
Date: 21 Nov 2007 16:03:57
From: samsloan
Subject: Re: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
On Nov 21, 6:21 pm, help bot <[email protected] > wrote:
> On Nov 21, 6:06 pm, samsloan <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Dear Judge Chin:
> > This law firm is counsel to defendants The United States Chess
> > Federation, Hoainhan Truong, Zsuzsanna Polger,
>
> Zsuzanna Polger?

Zsuzsanna is her actual legal name.

Zsuzsa is a diminutive form of Zsuzsanna.

Susan is just a nickname Zsuzsanna Polger adopted when she immigrated
to America.

I learned all this during the months I stayed in Zsuzsanna's apartment
in Budapest in 1986.

Sam Sloan


  
Date: 21 Nov 2007 19:15:00
From: Ray Gordon, creator of the \pivot\
Subject: Re: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
> Susan is just a nickname Zsuzsanna Polger adopted when she immigrated
> to America.

That's EMIGRATED.


--
Ray Gordon, The ORIGINAL Lifestyle Seduction Guru
http://www.cybersheet.com/library.html
Includes 29 Reasons Not To Be A Nice Guy

Ray's new "Project 5000" is here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/project-5000

Don't rely on overexposed, mass-keted commercial seduction methods which
no longer work.

Thinking of taking a seduction "workshiop?" Read THIS:
http://www.dirtyscottsdale.com/?p=1187

Beware! VH-1's "The Pickup Artst" was FRAUDULENT. Six of the eight
contestants were actors, and they used PAID TARGETS in the club. The paid
targets got mad when VH-1 said "there are no actors in this club" and ruined
their prromised acting credit. What else has Mystery lied about?





   
Date: 22 Nov 2007 05:29:40
From: Tony M
Subject: Re: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
On Wed, 21 Nov 2007 19:15:00 -0500, "Ray Gordon, creator of the
\"pivot\"" <[email protected] > wrote:

>> Susan is just a nickname Zsuzsanna Polger adopted when she immigrated
>> to America.
>
>That's EMIGRATED.

Don't you just love it when a gram cop gets it all wrong?

Tony


 
Date: 21 Nov 2007 15:21:09
From: help bot
Subject: Re: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
On Nov 21, 6:06 pm, samsloan <[email protected] > wrote:

> Dear Judge Chin:
> This law firm is counsel to defendants The United States Chess
> Federation, Hoainhan Truong, Zsuzsanna Polger,

Zsuzanna Polger?


> Joel Charming,

Prince Charming?


> William
> Goichberg, Bill Hall, Randall Hough, Randy Bauer and Jim Berry
> (collectively "Defendants")

Why not "Randall Rough" or "Slim Berry"?

Oh well; the talking heads around here seem to think
the case was filed in the wrong place anyway. I hope
Mr. Sloan is not typing all these items in by hand,
when he could have simply used a scanner with text-
recognition software... .


-- help bot


  
Date: 22 Nov 2007 00:17:21
From: B. Lafferty
Subject: Re: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
I find it interesting the PR is representing both the USCF and Mr. Truong.
While Mr. Truong is a board member who would normally be represented by the
USCF's insurance carrier, in this instance the allegations of wrongdoing go
beyond the scope of his duties as a board member creating potential
liability for the USCF. I'm not at all certain PR can represent both of them
in this litigation. I would think this issue will be raised at some point in
the proceedings.




 
Date: 21 Nov 2007 18:19:44
From: Ray Gordon, creator of the \pivot\
Subject: Re: Letter "Answer" filed by Proskauer Rose representing the USCF
Gee, what happens if one defendant has to testify against another?

What does their lawyer do?


--
Ray Gordon, The ORIGINAL Lifestyle Seduction Guru
http://www.cybersheet.com/library.html
Includes 29 Reasons Not To Be A Nice Guy

Ray's new "Project 5000" is here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/project-5000

Don't rely on overexposed, mass-keted commercial seduction methods which
no longer work.

Thinking of taking a seduction "workshiop?" Read THIS:
http://www.dirtyscottsdale.com/?p=1187

Beware! VH-1's "The Pickup Artst" was FRAUDULENT. Six of the eight
contestants were actors, and they used PAID TARGETS in the club. The paid
targets got mad when VH-1 said "there are no actors in this club" and ruined
their prromised acting credit. What else has Mystery lied about?