Karba v. Karba
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-09879
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Karba v. Karba, Judge Swain ordered Thomas C. Karba to pay fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment before the case proceeds.
Thomas C. Karba and the civil action he filed against Gerhard W. Karba and the other listed defendants; the order requires Thomas C. Karba to pay the fees or submit an IFP application before the action proceeds.
What happened
In Karba v. Karba, Thomas C. Karba filed a civil action without a lawyer but did not pay the required fees or submit an application to proceed without prepaying them.
The court gave him 30 days to pay $405 or submit the required application. No summons will be issued at this time, and the action will be dismissed if he does not comply within that period.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Karba v. Karba · No. 1:24-cv-09879
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 6, 2025
Background
Thomas C. Karba brought this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without submitting an application to proceed without prepaying fees.
Order
The court explained that filing a civil action requires either payment of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee, totaling $405, or a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. This status is called proceeding in forma pauperis, or IFP.
The court ordered Thomas C. Karba, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $405 or submit the attached IFP application labeled with docket number 24-CV-9879 (LTS). If the court grants the application, he may proceed without prepaying fees. No summons will issue at this time. If he does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith. The court therefore denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal.
Result
The order did not decide the underlying claims. It directed Thomas C. Karba to pay the required fees or submit an IFP application before the case could proceed.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.