Zhang v. Canadian Solar Inc.
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-00614
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Zhang v. Canadian Solar Inc., Judge Swain ordered payment or an IFP application within 30 days before the case could proceed.
Hui Zhang must either pay the $405 fee or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without prepaying fees. The action will not proceed, and no summons or answer is required, until one of those steps occurs. If Zhang does not comply or seek an extension, the action will be dismissed without prejudice to refiling. The defendants are Canadian Solar Inc., CSI Solar, and Xiaohua Qu.
What happened
In Zhang v. Canadian Solar Inc., Hui Zhang submitted the action by email and was assigned a case number. The court said a civil case can proceed only after the plaintiff pays the required fees or requests permission to proceed without paying them in advance.
The court ordered Zhang to pay $405 or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without prepaying fees within 30 days. Until then, the case would not move forward, and no summons or answer would be required.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain stated that failure to comply, or to request more time, would result in dismissal without prejudice to refiling. She also denied permission to appeal without paying fees because any appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Zhang v. Canadian Solar Inc. · No. 1:25-cv-00614
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 13, 2025
Background
Hui Zhang submitted this civil action to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by email. The case was assigned docket number 25-CV-0614 (LTS). The opinion does not address the underlying claims against Canadian Solar Inc., CSI Solar, or Xiaohua Qu.
Fee or IFP requirement
The court explained that a plaintiff must either pay the required filing fees or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying them. The required fees were $405, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee. The court gave Zhang 30 days from the date of the order to pay the fees or submit a completed and signed application to proceed without prepayment of fees.
Until the fees were paid or a completed and signed application was received, the court said that no further action would be taken, no summons would issue, and no answer would be required. If the court granted the application, Zhang would be allowed to proceed without paying the fees in advance.
Ruling and effect
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered Zhang to satisfy the fee requirement or submit the application within the stated period. If Zhang failed to comply or failed to request an extension of time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice to refiling. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.