Buxbaum v. Hopkins
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-00521
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Buxbaum v. Hopkins, Judge Swain ordered Michael Buxbaum to pay fees or submit an IFP application within 30 days before the case proceeds.
Michael Buxbaum must either pay the $405 fee or submit a completed and signed IFP application within 30 days to avoid dismissal without prejudice to refiling. Virginia Hopkins is affected because the case will not proceed or require an answer until that filing requirement is satisfied.
What happened
Buxbaum v. Hopkins was submitted to the Southern District of New York by email and assigned a docket number. The order does not describe the claims or the underlying dispute.
The court required Michael Buxbaum to pay $405 in fees or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without paying fees within 30 days. Until one of those steps occurs, the court will take no further action, and no summons or answer will be required.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that failure to comply, or to request more time, will result in dismissal without prejudice to refiling. She also denied permission to proceed without paying fees for any appeal and certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Buxbaum v. Hopkins · No. 1:25-cv-00521
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 24, 2025
Background
Michael Buxbaum submitted this civil action to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by email. The opinion does not describe the claims against Virginia Hopkins or the facts underlying the dispute.
Order
The court explained that a plaintiff must either pay the required fees or request permission to proceed without prepaying them. It directed Buxbaum, within 30 days of January 24, 2025, to do one of the following:
- Pay $405 in fees, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee; or - Complete, sign, and submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application.
The court stated that no further action would be taken, and no summons would issue or answer would be required, until the fees were paid or a completed and signed IFP application was received. If Buxbaum complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If the court granted the IFP application, Buxbaum would be allowed to proceed without prepaying the fees.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that if Buxbaum failed to comply within the allowed time, or failed to request an extension, the action would be dismissed without prejudice to refiling. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for an appeal. The order did not reach the merits of the underlying dispute.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.