Shad v. Zachter PLLC
- Gregory Woods
- 1:23-cv-10724
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Riaz Ahmed Shad v. RPG Ocean Holdings, LLC, Judge Aaron vacated a default certificate and required Plaintiffs to prove or redo service by July 1, 2024.
The order affects Riaz Ahmed Shad and the other plaintiffs, who must establish or complete service on RPG Ocean Holdings, LLC; it also vacates RPG’s certificate of default.
What happened
Riaz Ahmed Shad and other plaintiffs sued RPG Ocean Holdings, LLC. The court had previously entered a certificate of default, but the plaintiffs’ papers did not establish that RPG had been properly served with the summons.
The court vacated the certificate of default. It ordered the plaintiffs’ counsel, by July 1, 2024, either to submit an amended service affidavit or supporting declarations showing that service complied with New York law, or to serve RPG again under the federal rules and file proof of service.
The order was issued by Judge Stewart D. Aaron after a telephone conference. The court explained that the plaintiffs had not shown that duplicate summonses were delivered to the New York Secretary of State and that the required fee was paid, as required for that method of service.
The detailed version
- Shad v. Zachter PLLC · No. 1:23-cv-10724
- Gregory Woods
- May 30, 2024
Background
The plaintiffs sought a certificate of default against RPG Ocean Holdings, LLC. The court had previously entered one, but during a May 30, 2024 telephone conference it explained why the Clerk’s Office staff had been directed to vacate that certificate. Plaintiffs’ counsel appeared at the conference.
Service of Process
The court stated that RPG’s summons did not appear to have been properly served. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4, service on a limited liability company may be made using certain methods permitted by the law of the state where the federal court is located or where service occurs. The court therefore examined New York’s service rules.
The plaintiffs’ filing said that RPG had been served on January 31, 2024. But the affidavit and supporting affirmation did not provide all facts needed to show compliance with New York law governing service through the Secretary of State. In particular, the plaintiffs had not shown that duplicate copies of the summons were delivered or that the statutory fee was paid.
Order
The court ordered that, no later than July 1, 2024, plaintiffs’ counsel must either submit an amended affidavit of service or supporting declarations showing that service was properly completed under New York law, or serve RPG in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and file proof of that service on the docket. The court also vacated the previously entered certificate of default. Judge Stewart D. Aaron signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.