Buxbaum v. Paypal, Inc.
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-00367
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Buxbaum v. Paypal, Inc., Judge Swain ordered Michael Buxbaum to pay fees or submit an application to proceed without prepayment.
Michael Buxbaum must either pay the required fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepayment within 30 days. The case will be dismissed if he does not comply; PayPal, Inc. is not affected by a merits ruling in this order.
What happened
Buxbaum v. Paypal, Inc. began when Michael Buxbaum filed a civil action without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without paying them upfront. He is representing himself.
The court ordered Buxbaum, within 30 days, either to pay $405 in filing and administrative fees or submit a signed application asking to proceed without prepayment. The court said no summons would issue at this time and warned that the action will be dismissed if he does not comply.
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. This order did not decide the underlying claims against PayPal, Inc.
The detailed version
- Buxbaum v. Paypal, Inc. · No. 1:25-cv-00367
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 22, 2025
Background
Michael Buxbaum filed this civil action without a lawyer. He submitted the complaint without paying the required fees and without an application to proceed without prepayment of fees, commonly called an IFP application.
Fee requirement
The court explained that proceeding with a civil action requires either payment of $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or submission of a signed IFP application. The application asks for financial information so the court can decide whether the plaintiff may proceed without paying the fees upfront.
Order
The court ordered Buxbaum to do one of the following within 30 days of the order's date:
- Pay the $405 in fees; or - Submit the attached signed IFP application, labeled with docket number 1:25-CV-00367 (LTS).
The court stated that, if it grants the application, Buxbaum may proceed without prepaying the fees. No summons will issue at this time. If Buxbaum complies, the Clerk's Office will process the case under its procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal.
Effect of the order
This is an administrative and procedural order about payment of filing fees or submission of a fee-waiver application. It does not decide the merits of Buxbaum's claims against PayPal, Inc.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.