Filing # 127870362 E-Filed 06/01/2021 02:58:47 PM

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE ELEVENTH

JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA

CASE NO.: 2020-006167-CA-01

(Consolidated with Case No. 20-005448)

BIG LIGAS, LLC, a Florida limited liability

company,

Plaintiff,
v.

PAULO EZEQUIEL LONDRA,

an individual,

Defendant.

-and-

PAULO EZEQUIEL LONDRA,

an individual,

Plaintiff,
v.

BIG LIGAS, LLC, a Florida limited liability company,

CRISTIAN ANDRES SALAZAR, an individual,
DANIEL ECHAVARRIA OVIEDO, P/K/A
“OVY ON THE DRUMS,” an individual,
RITHOLZ LEVY FIELDS, LLP, a New York
limited liability partnership, MATTHEW GREENBERG,
an individual, STEPHANIE CHOPURIAN, an individual,
Defendants.
_______________________________________________/

JOINT PRE-TRIAL REPORT

Pursuant to the Court’s 2019 Uniform Pre-Trial Preparation Order, Big Ligas, LLC (“Big

Ligas”), Cristian Andres Salazar (“Salazar”), Daniel Echavarria Oviedo (“Oviedo”) (collectively,

the “Big Ligas Parties”) and Paulo Londra (“Londra”) file their Joint Pre-Trial Report. The Big

Ligas Parties and Londra are at times collectively referred to hereinafter as the Parties.
 I. ATTORNEY INFORMATION

A. Big Ligas Parties

Jesus E. Cuza Richard C. Wolfe

Florida Bar No. 428991 WOLFE LAW MIAMI, P.A.
Jesus.cuza@hklaw.com 175 SW 7th Street
J. Raul Cosio Suite 2410
Florida Bar No. 503630 Miami, FL 33130
Raul.cosio@hklaw.com rwolfe@wolfemiamilaw.com
Monica V. Castro
Florida Bar No. 22976
Monica.castro@hklaw.com
Annelise Del Rivero
Florida Bar No. 1003234
Annelise.delrivero@hklaw.com
HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP
701 Brickell Avenue, Suite 3300
Miami, Florida 33131
(305) 374-8500 (telephone)
(305) 789-7799 (facsimile)

B. Londra

James G. Sammataro Henry L. Self III

Florida Bar No. 520292 hself@harderllp.com
jsammataro@pryorcashman.com HARDER LLP
Brendan S. Everman 132 South Rodeo Dr.
Florida Bar No. 68702 Fourth Floor
beverman@pryorcashman.com Beverly Hills, California 90212
PRYOR CASHMAN LLP hself@harderllp.com
201 South Biscayne Blvd, Suite 2700
Miami, Florida 33131
Telephone: (786) 582-3011
Facsimile: (786) 582-3004

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 II. BRIEF FACTUAL STATEMENT

A. Big Ligas Parties

In the Fall of 2017, Salazar was introduced to Paulo Londra by a social media influencer.

Salazar invited Londra to visit him and Oviedo in Colombia to meet them and discuss doing

business together. At Salazar’s expense, Londra flew to Colombia on November 13, 2017. The

three met and, realizing they had excellent chemistry, began working together to create music.

Having instantly begun to achieve success together, Salazar, Oviedo and Londra decided to form

a company of which each would be a 1/3 owner. The three also decided to enter into an agreement

to organize their project and regulate their professional relationship. Their company was to be

called “Big Ligas”, as their vision was to create music and develop a successful project that would

make it to the “Major Leagues.”

Each of the three members played a significant and important role in the venture. Salazar

is a computer scientist and an experienced entrepreneur in online marketing and promotion who

worked to build Londra’s audience via YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, Twitter, Facebook, Tidal

and other online platforms. Oviedo is a successful record producer and songwriter who, by 2017,

had already produced hit music recordings for international recording artists. Oviedo helped write

songs, created the “beats” for the songs, and produced the music. Londra was the singer and artistic

talent.

The Big Ligas entity was formed in February 2018. Shortly thereafter, the parties entered

into the written agreement that governed their relationship and doubled as the company’s operating

agreement, known as the “Deal Memo.” Much like they had done with the few songs they had

worked on together in November 2017 (which led to their commercial relationship), the three

members immediately continued to work together to create music and Salazar and Oviedo began

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to market Big Ligas. With the combined efforts of the members, their small company quickly

became a huge success and Londra began to reach stardom and widespread recognition at a level

he had never achieved prior to working with Salazar and Oviedo.

This soon caused other parties in the music industry to take an interest in Big Ligas and its

members, in turn leading to significant, multi-million dollar contractual and/or business

relationships with major industry players. In less than an 18 month period, Big Ligas went from a

startup being fully financed by one of its members to a rising company that had the opportunity to

enter into contracts worth tens of millions of dollars. To name just one example, effective January

2, 2019, Big Ligas, Londra, and Warner Music Latina entered into a multi-million dollar recording

agreement. Then, on May 23, 2019 Big Ligas, Londra and Warner launched “Home Run” — Big

Ligas (and Londra’s) first album, which was a massive success.

Shortly after Londra began to experience his newfound fame and financial success, Londra

started to turn on his partners. Londra, purposely ignoring that his meteoric rise was largely (if not

entirely) owed to Salazar and Oviedo’s significant contributions, began to refuse to comply with

his obligations to Big Ligas. Worse yet, Londra — with the help of others — began to take

affirmative steps to hurt Big Ligas by hindering Big Ligas’s growth and obstructing its ability to

enter into additional commercial and business relationships that would have a significant impact

on the value of the company and its position in the music industry. Londra’s actions were

calculated and intentionally carried out to harm Big Ligas and its other two members.

Since Londra began to take these actions, he has been uninterruptedly breaching many of

his obligations under the Deal Memo. His breaches include, but are not limited to: 1) failing to

comply with obligations he has under the Warner Agreement, as amended; 2) interfering with and

obstructing Big Ligas’s rights and ability to enter into a multi-million dollar deal with Kobalt

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Music Group; and 3) embezzling and converting assets and funds belonging to Big Ligas.

Even though he has been given the opportunity to rectify his actions, Londra has made

clear he will continue to breach his obligations. As a result of Londra’s ill-intended actions, Londra

breached not only the Deal Memo, but a number of laws in Florida, including laws that apply to

contractual relationships and fiduciary duties that emerge from relationships like the one that

Londra has with the Big Ligas parties. Big Ligas is entitled to recover tens of millions of dollars

from Londra as a result of his various (and continuing) breaches.

Unable to face the consequences of his breaches, Londra has attempted to disavow the

existence of these obligations. To try to claim that he has no obligations under the contract, Londra

has falsely alleged that he had no idea that he was signing the Deal Memo — even after signing a

Spanish AND English version of the 9-page agreement and initialing every single page. To make

credible his lie that he did not know he was signing the Deal Memo, Londra has further fabricated

additional lies. These include, but are not limited to, lies about what had happened the days leading

to his signing of the agreement and the days that followed. Londra also fabricated stories about

alleged breaches of contract and breaches of other duties by the Big Ligas parties.

Londra has had absolutely no problem lying about the actions of others without any of care

or consideration of how it would affect those individuals. Of course, Londra’s lies are contradicted

by his own actions and statements during the course of his relationship with the Big Ligas parties.

B. Londra

This is a music industry dispute between Argentinian recording artist and songwriter

Paulo Londra, on the one hand, and Cristian “Kristo” Salazar, a self-proclaimed online marketer,

and Daniel “Ovy” Oviedo, a producer.

In the fall of 2017, and at the precocious age of 19, Londra was a well-known and rising

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musical artist in Argentina. Without any industry professionals, Londra and his best friend began

self-distributing Londra’s works, generating millions of streams, significant revenue, and social

media likes. Londra’s meteoric rise put him on the radar of major labels Universal, Sony, Roc

Nation and Warner. Londra had also caught the eye of Salazar and Oviedo, whom Salazar

managed.

Salazar and Oviedo sensed that Londra’s naïveté made him an easy mark for exploitation.

They courted Londra, inviting him to travel to meet with them in Medellín, Colombia in

November 2017. During this trip, Oviedo and Londra worked on music, while Salazar began

touting what the three of them could accomplish as “brothers” and “family.” After this initial

meeting, Salazar began assuming managerial duties over Londra’s music career, and persuaded

Londra to turn over his passwords to all of his social media accounts, and to his Distrokid and

YouTube accounts (in which Londra was already receiving tens of thousands per month).

Salazar and Oviedo repeatedly touted their love for Londra, and claimed that together

they would make “music history.” The three individuals loosely discussed the idea of forming

a company together, with Salazar and Oviedo – afraid of losing Londra to record labels, without

being able to cash-in on Londra’s talents – falsely represented that a “company structure” would

help Londra substantially increase the advance monies he would receive from a record label. The

lynchpin of this relationship was, in Oviedo’s words, that “everything has to be done as a team,”

with “transparency,” as the recently-acquainted individuals “are brothers, already a family.”

In early December 2017, Salazar and Oviedo told Londra that they had retained lawyers

to provide advice to all of them in forming Big Ligas. Salazar repeatedly advised Londra that

the attorneys were being retained to protect Londra. In truth, Salazar – on behalf of the not-yet-

formed LLC – retained co-defendants Ritholz Levy Fields LLP, (“RLF”), Matthew Greenberg

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(“Greenberg”), and/or Stephanie Chopurian (“Chopurian”) (collectively, the “RLF Defendants”)

for the purposes of being adverse to Londra. Specifically, on December 12, 2017, Oviedo and

Salazar engaged RLF on behalf of Big Ligas – a non-existent company – to “acquire various

rights from the artist Paulo Londra.” Salazar and Oviedo, then, discussed the Deal Memo with

the RLF Defendants, without Londra’s involvement.

Consistent with their engagement, the RLF Defendants prepared an agreement that was

adverse to Londra. On February 21, 2018, Salazar and Oviedo presented Londra with the one-

side Deal Memorandum and an annexed Songwriter Agreement (collectively, the “Deal Memo”)

and told him to sign it as part of a video. Salazar and Oviedo did not provide Londra with a copy

of the Deal Memo prior to the video shoot and did not explain its terms. Londra believed that

the Deal Memo was a simply a prop for the video that would symbolically recognize their plans

to create Big Ligas.

The Deal Memo purported to form a “joint venture” in which the sole asset is Londra and

his prodigious musical talents. The Deal Memo earmarked excessive fees for Salazar and

Oviedo, who stood to gain approximately three times the amounts that industry custom dictates

that they should have earned. Moreover, contrary to Salazar and Oviedo’s promises of

“transparency” and “unanimity,” the Deal Memo purported to name Salazar and Oviedo as

managing members of the LLC with the right to make some, but not all decisions, without

Londra’s approval. Further, the Deal Memo also purported to transfer ownership of all of

Londra’s intellectual property (including his pre-existing musical writing and recordings),

copyrights in music publishing, live concert performances, and name and likeness to Big Ligas.

Immediately after signing the Deal Memo in February 2018, Londra became concerned

that Big Ligas misled him. Londra expressed his concerns to Salazar and Oviedo. Oviedo

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responded, both orally and in writing, that Londra should consider the Deal Memo to be of no

legal importance. Specifically, Oviedo wrote, “That contract we signed if we have to spoil it we

spoil it ....”.

Salazar and Oviedo agreed to amend the Deal Memo. On May 18, 2018, Chopurian

emailed Pablo Contreras (Londra’s father’s counsel), that Big Ligas was “preparing a

modification to the agreement that was requested by Paulo … .” The parties then met in-person

in Argentina on June 1, 2018 for express purpose of addressing Londra’s concerns by amending

the Deal Memo. Londra’s concerns were not fully satisfied during the meeting, as the parties did

not discuss, much less resolve, all of the outstanding items, leaving the matter “open ended.”

Salazar and Oviedo did, however, agree to amend the Deal Memo and had the RLF Defendants

prepare a written amendment.

Without an amendment in place, the parties’ relationship continued to fracture. The

dispute boiled over in November of 2018, when Salazar and Oviedo endeavored to unilaterally

bind Londra to an agreement with Warner Music Latina, Inc. (“Warner Agreement”). After

Londra expressed his unwillingness to provide his contractually-required consent to the Warner

Agreement, Greenberg wrote to Londra demanding that he sign the Warner Agreement,

threatening:

 “By refusing to sign, … you are violating, i.e., “breaching”, the agreement you signed
with Big Ligas and exposing yourself to huge financial and career risks” (emphasis in
original);

 “… Big Ligas can stop you – and will stop you – if you try to release your music through
any company other than Big Ligas.”

 “… Big Ligas will be entitled to sue you and obtain a judgment against you for all monies
that Big Ligas will have lost by your violation of the Big Ligas Agreement.”

 “When Big Ligas obtains a multi-million judgment against you – which it undoubtedly will
– you will have to write a check to Big Ligas for the amount. If you fail to pay Big Ligas,
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 [Oviedo] and [Salazar] will enforce that judgment against any money or property you may
ever own or acquire until that judgment – plus interest – is paid in full.”

 “Is it smart for you to engage in a long, extremely costly lawsuit which will shut down your
music career and drain your bank account?”

Coerced, Londra signed the accompanying letter of inducement. His mistrust only grew,

however, when he did not receive a single account statement for all of 2018, and was paid a grand

total of $10,000.00 (in the form of a recoupable advance). An audit revealed, among other things:

 Big Ligas failed to timely issue quarterly accounting reports to Londra;

 Big Ligas’ untimely accountings have been rife with errors and underreported hundreds
of thousands of dollars; and

 Big Ligas failed to remit any monies to Londra in 2018, despites earnings in excess of
$800,000.00.

Big Ligas’ financial misdeeds continued in 2019, when Big Ligas wrongly attempted to

deduct touring revenues (which it own business manager sworn under oath were not due) and,

then, in 2020, when Big Ligas stopped accounting to Londra altogether.

On February 14, 2020, Londra timely exercised his right to terminate the Deal Memo. Two

weeks after receiving Londra’s termination notice, on March 2, 2020, Big Ligas purported to enter

into an “amendment” to the Warner Agreement requiring Londra to record at least a second album.

Big Ligas then campaigned Warner to mischaracterize this agreement as an amendment, as a

means to claim that the Deal Memo had been extended until “sometime in 2027”. Big Ligas also

flip-flopped on its long-stated position in which it acknowledged that the Deal Memo expired on

February 21, 2020, disingenuously claiming that the Deal Memo did not expire until May of 2024.

Londra’s career is stuck – a reality that Big Ligas has attempted to use as leverage. Londra

has been unable to record his next album, close on a multi-million dollar publishing deal, or pursue

interest from third parties. Through this action, Londra seeks to have the fraudulently-induced

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Deal Memo be deemed void; be deemed terminated as of February 21, 2020 (such that he can

continue his career without being forced to tithe his earnings to Big Ligas); and be reimbursed for

all the monies that Big Ligas has misappropriated from him – including the amounts that Big

Ligas’ business manager admitted, under oath, to failing to pay to Londra.

III. LEGAL ISSUES

A. Big Ligas Parties

1. Whether Londra breached the Deal Memo.

a) This includes whether Londra breached the Deal Memo and has anticipatorily
breached the Deal Memo.

2. Did the Deal Memo expire on February 21, 2021 or, instead, does it expire once the term
of the Warner Recording Agreement expires?

3. If Londra breached the Deal Memo, what damages did Big Ligas suffer and therefore is
entitled to recover from Londra?

4. Whether Londra breached his fiduciary duties to Big Ligas.

5. If Londra breached his fiduciary duties, what damages did Big Ligas suffer and therefore
is entitled to recover from Londra?

6. If Londra breached his fiduciary duties, is Big Ligas entitled to recover punitive damages
from Londra?

7. Whether Warner is an indispensable party to this litigation as it relates to the Second Album
Amendment to the recording agreement or any other agreement with Warner.

8. In the event that Londra meets his burden of proving fraud in the inducement and/or fraud
in the factum (which he cannot), whether Londra is still bound by the terms of the Deal
Memo as a result of 1) his ratification of the Deal Memo; 2) receiving the benefit of the
bargain under the Deal Memo; and/or 3) entering into a separate agreement where in that
agreement Londra agrees to be bound by and comply with the Deal Memo.

9. Whether Londra’s alleged claims of conversion and civil theft are in reality breach of
contract claims against Big Ligas, LLC.

10. Whether Londra has valid conversion and civil theft claims against the other members of
Big Ligas when Londra has not filed a derivative action on or regarding these claims.

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B. Londra

Factual Issues for the Jury

1. Is the Deal Memo a valid and enforceable agreement?

2. Did Salazar or Oviedo deceive Londra about the nature or contents of the Deal Memo? Did
Londra sign the Deal Memo believing it was a symbolic prop for the Big Ligas launch
video? Is the Deal Memo actually signed by Londra different than the prop that Londra
intended to sign?

3. Did Salazar or Oviedo fraudulently induce Londra to sign the Deal Memo?

4. Did Salazar or Oviedo exert undue influence over Londra?

5. Did Salazar or Oviedo breach any fiduciary duties owed to Londra?

6. Did Londra ratify the Deal Memo?

7. Did the parties perform under the Deal Memo? Did the parties breach the Deal Memo? If
so, who breached first? Was the first breach material?

8. Did Salazar or Oviedo violate his implied duty of good faith and fair dealing?

9. Did the Big Ligas Defendants intentionally interfere with Londra’s business relations with
third parties?

10. Did the Big Ligas Defendants commit conversion by wrongful act inconsistent with the
property rights of Londra?

11. Did the Big Ligas Defendants obtain or use Londra’s property with criminal intent?

12. The amount of Londra’s damages.

Legal Issues for the Court

1. Is the Deal Memo void or voidable?

2. Did Mr. Londra terminate the Deal Memo effective February 20, 2021 via his February
14, 2020 letter?

3. Was Big Ligas required to obtain Londra’s consent to enter the Warner Amendment? Is
the Warner Amendment binding?

4. Did Big Ligas extend the term of the Deal Memo by entering into the Warner
Amendment?

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 5. When did the term of the Deal Memo expire?

6. Should Big Ligas be dissolved?

IV. EXHIBIT LIST

A. Big Ligas Parties

See Exhibit BL-1.1

B. Londra

See Exhibit PL-1

V. WITNESS LIST

A. Big Ligas Parties

See Exhibit BL-2.

B. Londra

See Exhibit PL-2

VI. JURY INSTRUCTIONS AND VERDICT FORM

A. Big Ligas Parties

See Exhibit BL-3 and BL-4.

B. Londra

See Exhibit PL-3 and PL-4.

VII. LIST OF ALL PENDING MOTIONS

Fully-briefed motions:

1. Londra’s motion for partial summary judgment;

1
The Big Ligas Parties’ Exhibit List and Witness List was submitted directly to the opposing
counsel and the Court on May 28, 2021 so as to preserve confidentiality, particularly as to personal
addresses for witnesses. The Joint Pre-Trial Report is similarly being filed without the
accompanying Exhibits, which will be submitted directly to the Court.
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 2. Londra’s motion in limine to preclude the presentation of legal opinions as evidence at
trial;

3. Londra’s motion to compel deposition answers from Salazar;

4. Big Ligas’ motion to order forensic imaging of devices;

5. Big Ligas’ motion for sanctions against Paulo Londra;

6. Joint Motion to Modify Pre-Trial Deadlines (but not the Trial Period).

Not-yet-fully-briefed motions:

7. Big Ligas’ amended motion for partial summary judgment (filed May 28, 2021);

8. Big Ligas’s motion to strike or alternative motion to exclude under Daubert the
opinions and testimony of plaintiff’s expert Keith Cooper (filed May 28, 2021);

9. Big Ligas’s motion to strike or alternative motion to exclude under Daubert the
opinions and testimony of plaintiff’s expert Thomas Smith (filed May 28, 2021);

10. Big Ligas’s motion to strike or alternative motion to exclude under Daubert the
opinions and testimony of plaintiff’s expert Howard Williamson (filed May 28, 2021);

11. Londra’s motion in limine to preclude evidence or argument about his taxes (filed May
28, 2021).

VIII. STIPULATIONS

Given that discovery and depositions are still ongoing, the parties jointly request an

extension of time to submit stipulations up to and including June 30, 2021, as soon as depositions

have been completed.

IX. OTHER MATTERS

A. Big Ligas Parties

1. Big Ligas is in the process of deposing the following individuals: Paulo Londra;

Helen Yu; Polo Molina; Thomas Smith; Keith Cooper; Howard Williamson; and Christine

Jeanneret. Big Ligas respectfully requests a brief extension of the fact and expert discovery

deadline until June 25, 2021, the date agreed to by the parties in their May 14, 2021 Joint Motion

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to Modify Pre-Trial Deadlines (but not the Trial Period).

2. Given that discovery and depositions are still ongoing, Big Ligas respectfully

requests an extension to file Motions in Limine up to and including June 14, 2021, the date agreed

to by the parties in their May 14, 2021 Joint Motion to Modify Pre-Trial Deadlines (but not the

Trial Period).

3. The Big Ligas parties submit that certain claims will require resolution by the Court

after the Trial because they are issues to be ruled upon by the Judge and not the jury (i.e., Londra’s

claims for rescission and dissolution of the Joint Venture).

4. The Big Ligas parties submit that any of the allegations and expert witnesses (i.e.,

Anthony Alfieri) related to Londra’s claims against the Ritholz Levy Fields defendants may not

be utilized by Londra at trial, given the settlement between Londra and the Ritholz Levy Fields

defendants.

B. Londra

1. Londra submits that the fact witness discovery deadline has closed, with the sole

exception of those depositions that cannot be completed until receipt of the documents pending

the Court’s in camera inspection.

2. Londra submits that he should be afforded time to file opposition briefs to the

Daubert motions that Big Ligas filed on May 28, 2021.

3. Londra submits that, as except as expressly ruled upon by the Court, that all pre-

trial deadlines be deemed to have expired.

4. Londra submits that certain claims require resolution by the Court because they are

issues to be ruled upon by the Judge and not the jury (i.e., the Term of the Deal Memo).

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 5. Londra wishes to have the Court approve the engagement letter for Michael Elkin

(the Court-appointed neutral accountant).

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Dated: June 1, 2021 Respectfully submitted,

HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP WOLFE LAW MIAMI, P.A.

701 Brickell Avenue, Suite 3300 175 SW 7th Street, Suite 2410
Miami, Florida 33131 Miami, Florida 33130
Telephone: (305) 374-8500
Facsimile: (305) 789-7799 By: s/ Richard C. Wolfe
Richard C. Wolfe
By: s/ Jesus E. Cuza_ Florida Bar No. 355607
Jesus E. Cuza rwolfe@wolfemiamilaw.com
Florida Bar No. 428991
jesus.cuza@hklaw.com
J. Raul Cosio
Florida Bar No. 503630
Raul.cosio@hklaw.com
Monica V. Castro
Florida Bar No. 22976
Monica.castro@hklaw.com
Annelise Del Rivero
Florida Bar No. 1003234
annelise.delrivero@hklaw.com

Counsel for Big Ligas, LLC, Cristian Salazar, Co-Counsel for Big Ligas, LLC, Cristian
and Daniel Oviedo Salazar, and Daniel Oviedo

PRYOR CASHMAN LLP

Counsel for Paulo Londra
201 South Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 2700
Miami, Florida 33131
Tel: (786) 582-3011

By: s/ James G. Sammataro

James G. Sammataro
Florida Bar No. 520292
Brendan S. Everman
Florida Bar No. 68702
jsammataro@pryorcashman.com
Brendan S. Everman
Florida Bar No. 68702
beverman@pryorcashman.com

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 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that on June 1, 2021, a true and correct copy of the foregoing was

electronically filed via the Florida Courts e-Filing Portal, which will serve this Notice on all

counsel of record via the Court’s system.

/s/ Jesus E. Cuza

Jesus E. Cuza

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