Greenwood v. American Kennel Club
- Gregory Woods
- 1:23-cv-10516
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Greenwood v. American Kennel Club, Judge Swain denied reconsideration because claims had transferred, but granted 30 more days to amend New York claims.
Elaine Greenwood’s transferred claims must be pursued in the Middle District of North Carolina, while she received an additional 30 days to file an amended complaint concerning the New York County claims.
What happened
In Greenwood v. American Kennel Club, the court had previously transferred all claims against the named defendants to the Middle District of North Carolina. It had also allowed Elaine Greenwood to file an amended complaint concerning New York state-law claims arising from alleged events in New York County in 1995.
Greenwood asked the court to let the entire case proceed in the Southern District of New York. The court denied reconsideration because the North Carolina court had received the transferred claims, leaving the New York court without jurisdiction over them. The court said any challenge to the transfer must be brought in the North Carolina court, but granted Greenwood an additional 30 days to file an amended complaint about the New York County claims.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied the motion for reconsideration, granted the additional 30-day filing period, and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees because the court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Greenwood v. American Kennel Club · No. 1:23-cv-10516
- Gregory Woods
- Dec. 9, 2024
Background
The court had previously ordered that all claims in Greenwood’s complaint against the named defendants be transferred to the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. That order also gave Greenwood 60 days to file an amended complaint asserting New York state-law claims based on alleged events that occurred in New York County in 1995, against any newly named individuals or defendants.
The Middle District of North Carolina notified the Southern District of New York that it had received the transferred claims on October 15, 2024, and opened a new civil action. On December 3, 2024, Greenwood moved for reconsideration and asked the court to allow the case to proceed in its entirety in the Southern District of New York.
Court’s Analysis
The court explained that transferring claims deprives the transferring court of jurisdiction over those claims. The transferring court keeps jurisdiction to review the transfer only if the party seeking review acts to stay the transfer before the receiving court receives the case papers.
Because the Middle District of North Carolina had acknowledged receipt of the transferred claims, the Southern District of New York concluded that it no longer had jurisdiction over those claims. The court therefore denied Greenwood’s request for reconsideration. It stated that any continuing challenge to the transfer must be filed in the receiving court.
The court also determined that the deadline for filing an amended complaint in the Southern District of New York had expired. It granted Greenwood an additional 30 days to file an amended complaint asserting the New York County claims.
Disposition
The court denied Greenwood’s motion for reconsideration. It granted Greenwood an additional 30 days to file an amended complaint. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
The opinion is signed by Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.