Lewis v. Brown
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-03601
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Lewis v. Brown, Judge Swain ordered the pro se plaintiff to pay fees or request a waiver and submit a signed complaint.
Brittany Shay Lewis must, within 30 days, either pay $405 or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees, and must submit a signed complaint page. If she does not comply, the action will be dismissed without prejudice. No summons or answer will issue yet.
What happened
In Brittany Shay Lewis v. Christopher Maurise Brown, the plaintiff filed the case without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepayment, and the complaint was unsigned.
The court gave Lewis 30 days to either pay $405 or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees. The court also required her to sign and resubmit the complaint's signature page.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain said that no summons or answer would issue yet. If Lewis does not comply within the deadline, the action will be dismissed without prejudice; the court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Lewis v. Brown · No. 1:25-cv-03601
- Laura Swain
- May 20, 2025
Background
Brittany Shay Lewis brought this action without a lawyer. She submitted a complaint but did not pay the fees required to begin a civil action and did not submit an application to proceed without prepaying those fees. The complaint also was unsigned.
Fees
The court explained that beginning a civil action requires either payment of $405—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee—or a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees, commonly called an IFP application. The court directed Lewis, within 30 days of the order, to pay the $405 or submit the attached IFP application labeled with the docket number.
Signature
The court relied on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a), which requires an unrepresented party to personally sign a pleading. It directed Lewis to sign and submit the attached signature page within 30 days.
Ruling and effect
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered Lewis to complete both requirements. No summons or answer will issue at this time. If Lewis complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If she does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed without prejudice. The court also certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.