Middleton v. REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
- Philip Halpern
- 7:25-cv-01984
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Middleton v. Regeneron, Judge Halpern dismissed the unsigned complaint without prejudice and denied fee-free appeal status.
Michael I. Middleton, whose unsigned complaint was dismissed without prejudice; REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., the defendant, was affected by the closure of the case.
What happened
In Middleton v. REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., Michael I. Middleton filed a lawsuit without a lawyer, but his complaint was unsigned.
The court ordered Middleton to either submit a request to proceed without paying filing fees or pay the required fees, and to submit a signed signature page. Middleton paid the filing fees but did not submit the signature page.
The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal does not bar refiling. Judge Philip M. Halpern also denied fee-free status for any appeal and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case.
The detailed version
- Middleton v. REGENERON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. · No. 7:25-cv-01984
- Philip Halpern
- Apr. 29, 2025
Background
Michael I. Middleton initiated this action without a lawyer on March 6, 2025. He submitted an unsigned complaint. On March 13, 2025, the Court ordered him, within 30 days, to either submit a completed request to proceed without paying filing fees or pay the $405 filing fee for a civil action. The Court also ordered him to sign and submit a signature page and warned that failure to comply would result in dismissal.
Middleton paid the filing fees on April 3, 2025, but he did not submit the required signature page.
Ruling
The Court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a), which requires a party's filing to be signed. The Court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Middleton permission to appeal without paying the fees. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.